Synchrocity
by anmali8
Summary: Arabella Fronter joined the vampire slayer school shortly after finding out her father was killed ruthlessly by vampires. Ally's training takes on a new course when she is suddenly assigned a partner before she has even graduated. To her surprise, her partner is male, unheard of in a slayer world where same-gender partnerships are the norm.
1. A Partner

**SYNCHROCITY**

**A Partner**

I crouched behind the corner, my shoulders tense and my ears straining for the whisper of footsteps. But there was nothing. My grip on the stake in my hand tightened. It had to be just in front of me, listening for me as I was for it. I turned my head very slightly, using my peripheral vision to check that it hadn't snuck up behind me.

Suddenly, there it was. I could feel it before I saw it. The cold wave of air rushed over my body and anticipation sizzled in my nerves. If I moved at all, it would sense me, and attack. I froze my body, using the techniques we had practiced so much in class. I felt myself begin to feel faint as very little oxygen came into my brain. But I wouldn't breathe. I just wasn't going to let myself. Then, I felt the worst thing that could happen in that moment.

The top of my nose started to tingle and tighten. My eyes began to water. Oh god, I was going to sneeze. Shit, shit, shit. I blinked my eyes, and twitched my nose, taking a risk in order for it to just go away. It didn't work. I had to make a decision. Spring at it now, and sneeze while in action. Or sneeze, let it find me in a millisecond, and then try to defend myself and hack it into pieces. I didn't have enough time.

I sneezed. I swore in my head as I did. Unbelievable. How could I sneeze at a time like this? As soon as my eyes were open I could see it in front of me, mouth open, fangs bared. Even in the dim light, I could see his gray eyes, tinged by the red veins only so viciously evident when vamps were hungry. Shit. This was not going to go over well.

He came at me with his claws, growling. I socked him in the face and quickly turned to kick him in the stomach. He fell back a few feet but came at me again, with the same fervor in his eyes.

"Come girl," He said in his surprisingly smooth voice. "My fangs want to sink into your tender flesh." His tongue slipped out, as if tasting the air. "Yesssss, you will be a wonderful meal. Come dear, I haven't all day."

I flipped the stake around in my hand so that the point faced forward. I bent my neck invitingly.

"Come and get it then," I said.

The vampire grinned and darted forward. I was prepared for his speed and immediately jerked my stake up to meet his heart. I heard the crunch of bone as the stake fractured his ribs. The vamp howled in pain and glared at me murderously. He brought up his hands and one latched onto my shoulder while the other grabbed my face. His nails dug into my skin and I cried out similarly in pain. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my knife, driving it into his face. He immediately let go and I pushed him backward. He fell onto the floor and writhed in pain. I stood there and waited until his tremors stopped, then I reached forward and pulled my knife out of his cheek. It hadn't gone in very far, but it was still bloody.

I wiped it off on his clothes and then walked to the wall. I slid my fingers along it, feeling for the crack of the door. I looked straight ahead and braced myself for the nausea that had to be coming. It got less and less every time, but was still always there, taunting me as the only weakness I've ever had. I felt the bile rise to my throat, and I forced myself to swallow it down covering my mouth to make sure nothing came out. I tried to look like I wasn't about to throw up, since I knew that they were watching me through the cameras.

When the nausea passed, I wiped the sweat from my face, and knocked on the wall in front of me, hard. When nothing happened after a minute, I groaned and knocked again, not wanting to be in this dark hellhole any longer than necessary. The wall to the right of me slid open, and a calm, collected voice reached out for me.

"You missed," It said.

I felt the blood rush to my face. Damn cracks, there were too many of them. It was hard enough to find the ones for the door. But to have to tell them apart from others was perhaps even more of a challenge than killing the vamp.

I closed my eyes hard and opened them again to see Daniel leaning out of the door, watching me. I swallowed my embarrassment and walked toward him. His eyes left me and traveled to the body laid out behind me.

"Nice work," He said, a smile now playing about his lips. "The stab to the face might have been a little extreme."

"He was tearing up my face, I just stabbed his in return," I said, waiting for him to get out of the way.

He laughed at my response but still didn't move. Now his gaze had returned to me. We stood there for a moment in silence.

"Well," I said finally. "Are you going to move?"

He truly smiled now, and pulled his body back so that he was up against the wall behind him. But these walls were built for one person to walk through, so it wasn't as if I could comfortably get by.

"Thanks," I said, and brushed past him. There was no way I could avoid touching his body as I walked by. I even had to turn sideways to get through. And I knew he was doing it on purpose.

"They want to talk to you," He said as we walked through the hall.

I stopped walking and I heard Daniel stop just behind me. The walls were lined with Christmas lights, and so were not incredibly illuminated, but there was enough light was there to see where you were going.

"They want to talk to me?" I asked. He nodded solemnly.

"Well, where are they?"

"I can take you to them," He said, and then waited for my response.

Of course I was going to have to ask him to tell me. It's not like I could have gotten there myself.

"Ok then," I said, my patience beginning to wane. "Can you take me?"

A grin immediately popped up on his face.

"Sure," He said. "Follow me."

And of course, following him meant needing to get behind him, which meant he had to brush by me to get in front. I caught the small grin on his lips and he scooted by.

I entertained the thought of letting him walk off while I ran the other way, but if the council had called me, I had to go to them.

It seemed like forever until Daniel turned and led me down a different hallway. Finally, he stopped at a door that was barely noticeable. He turned to smile at me and knocked on the door with his knuckles.

"Do you know why they're calling me?" I asked him, trying not to let my nerves show. After the practice vamp killings each week, we usually just went back home. Council callings were not common at all.

"I think they're assigning you a partner," Daniel said. The smile had left his face.

"Why aren't you happy about that?" I said, almost smiling at his scowl.

"Because they didn't choose me," Daniel said, still very serious.

I tried not to laugh.

"They wouldn't partner me with a guy," I said. "Heterosexual partnerships aren't the thing around here."

Daniel's eyebrows raised, "Well I've heard some things. Just let me know how it all turns out."

The door slid open, revealing a long table inside, around which many old and seasoned vamp slayers sat. Daniel raised his hand to his brow and flipped it upward in goodbye. Then he turned and loped down the hall.

I took a deep breath and stepped inside. It was completely silent and all eyes were turned toward me. There were only about ten people in the room but I felt as though I was under the scrutiny of thousands. I took a quick survey of the room, as I had been taught since I was fourteen.

"Arabella Fronter," A warm voice said.

I cringed at the use of my full name. My teeth clamped onto my tongue before I could blurt out, "just call me Ally." I nodded my head in acknowledgement to my name.

"Do you know why we have brought you here today?" The voice asked. My eyes drew to the head of the table, where the man who was speaking sat.

"No," I said quietly.

The man nodded, and continued.

"It has been decided that you are ready to be assigned to a partner."

My heart leapt in my chest. This was what I had been working toward for the past four years.

"We would like to introduce you to him," He said.

My heart stopped leaping. Him? I was actually being partnered with a man?

My shock stopped me from asking why, and I didn't even notice when someone stepped out from the shadows behind the head man.

"Please meet Zachariah Gery," the man said, extending his hand out to indicate the man.

At his name I looked up, and met his gaze. It was shuttered and cold. It did not look like he was happy about being partnered with me. Just my luck.

Even with his closed expression, he was attractive, with his long eyelashes and intense blue eyes and dark hair. But his face was so, hard. So tough, so weathered. Even so, he didn't look that much older than me. Maybe twenty-two at the most.

The whole council room was dead silent as Zachariah and I stared at each other. I finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," I said, pulling my gaze away. "I was under the impression that when I was partnered with someone, it would be a female."

The man listened to my complaint and immediately countered it.

"That would normally be the case," He said. "But we have been studying you, watching you for the past year or so. And we truly believe you have the potential to be great."

He stopped there and expected that to answer everything. That wasn't really going to work for me. I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand," I said. "Many slayers have been great with the same gender. I just don't know why I'm an exception."

The man's mouth curled up in a grin, "Female-male partnerships always have great advantages and disadvantages. We believe that you have the willpower to ensure that the disadvantages will not be a problem in your partnership."

In my head, I grumbled. It would have been a lot easier if my partner had been ugly. I bowed to the council, as was always called for.

"Thank you," I said. And then turned on my heel to walk out the door. When the door did not open, I felt my face heat up.

"Ah, we are not done yet Miss Fronter," The man said, amusement coloring his tone.

"Great," I whispered to myself, and then turned back to the council.

"How may I further serve you?" I asked courteously.

"You have done very well, and trained very hard," the man said, his face serious. "But now you must train harder. You must utilize your partner and find all the ways you can use each other to defeat your enemies."

I nodded briskly, refusing to look at Zachariah. I waited for him to keep speaking, but the room remained silent. I pursed my lips to keep from asking whether we were done yet. After a few minutes of this silence, the man smiled and spoke.

"Your training begins tomorrow. Do not be late."

I bowed again, glad the conversation was over.

"Thank you council," I murmured and turned toward the door, hoping it would open this time.

It did. I let out a pent up breath of relief. As soon as I walked out the door, I realized I was not completely sure of how to get back. I closed my eyes and tried to remember.

"Do you need help getting back?"

I turned around. Zachariah was standing just behind me. His voice was as formal as his eyes. I immediately moved aside so that he would be able to come out into the hall as well.

"No thank you," I said, trying to be as cold and polite as he was. "I can find my own way."

His eyes narrowed, "We're partners now, we can't be afraid to ask for help from each other. Our paths are entwined."

My eyebrows raised. For someone who didn't seem happy about being partnered with a woman, he seemed to be interested enough that we work together as a team. And man, was he cheesy.

"Ok then," I said. "Please show me the way back."

For the barest second I thought a saw a smile form in the corner of his mouth, but it disappeared so quickly, I couldn't be sure. He turned into the hallway on the right and began walking.

As I followed behind I admired his walk. It was very graceful, and very quiet. If I stopped walking I was sure that I would not be able to hear his footsteps. I sighed. He must be a great slayer. I almost felt sorry that he had to be trapped here with me.

"What did you think of your kill today?" He asked suddenly. He must have been watching my practice with the council. I thought for a moment, gathering my answer.

"The vampire was starving," I said finally. "It affected his actions and he did stupid things a fed vampire would never do."

"I agree," came the curt response. "So would you consider that kill easy?"

"Well," I began slowly. "Starved vampires are dangerous because they'll stop at nothing to drink your blood. But that is also their weakness. They do not think because they are so hungry."

I paused, waiting for him to contradict me but when he did not speak, I continued.

"It was probably a medium kill for me," I said quietly. "But I am sure you have experienced much worse."

He still did not reply. I silently followed him, trying to mirror his walk and not make noise whatsoever. We passed the rest of the walk in this way. Him leading, silent and graceful as a panther. I followed, trying to be a panther, but only succeeding to sound like an elephant in the quiet hallways. In my concentration, I failed to see that Zachariah had stopped. I ungracefully plowed into him. We both grunted.

"Sorry," I said automatically. Jeez, he was hard. He probably actually hurt me more than I hurt him. I immediately jumped back and, unsurprisingly, tripped backwards. I was extremely grateful that the lights were not bright enough to show my red face. I was usually never so clumsy. That was my pride. Why did it have to go wrong while he was here?

He extended a hand out to me to help me get up as I sat dejected on the floor.

"Thanks," I grumbled and grasped his hand. A shock ran through me as my palm touched his. My eyes widened as he pulled me up into a standing position. As soon as I was up, he let go. He immediately looked at his palm, and then nodded. What was that about?

"They were right," He said quietly.

"What?" I asked, leaning over to see his palm. But he dropped his hand before I could see anything.

"It's in your own palm as well," Zachariah said. I quickly raised my palm to my face. For a second I didn't see anything. But then I realized, that was just it. There was nothing. No lines, no cracks. It was just, smooth.

"What happened?" I asked in wonder.

"The council says that it happens when you meet your true partner," Zachariah said, just as quiet and calm as before. "The lines of your palm disappear, because your life can no longer be dictated by fate."

I let my fingers close over my palm and then dropped it, my hand still curled in a fist.

"But I've never heard of this before," I said, looking up at his face. "None of my teachers mentioned this."

He kept his focus on the wall in front of him, "Because most partnerships are well matched, but not destined to be together. It is hard to find that sort of pair."

It sounded like the corniest thing I'd ever heard. But Zachariah wasn't serenading me with lines from a love story. His face was a complete mask of solemnity.

"How can they tell?" I asked. Zachariah turned and began walking again. I hastened to follow.

"My birthday is on June 21st," Zachariah said. "Yours is on December 6th. We are perfect opposites."

I almost laughed, "That's all it's determined by? Our birthdays?!"

"That, and the fact that we are opposite genders, and we are both trained as vampire slayers," Zachariah said.

"Then wouldn't you think that it wouldn't be rare to find such a couple?" I asked. "There are plenty of people born on opposite days of each other."

"But many of them are not trained as you and I are in vampire slaying," Zachariah said. "We have a very small community of vampire slayers. As you might have noticed, it's very hard to even find female vampire slayers."

I remained silent as I processed his information. Then my mind drifted to another question.

"What are the disadvantages that the council brought up?" I asked.

"The physical attraction between a man and a woman," Zachariah said almost immediately.

"There are no other disadvantages than that?" I said.

"No," He said. "But it is a great disadvantage. Like when a vampire is starving. You no longer think, you just act."

Fearing that he may be growing agitated at all of my questions, I remained silent until we reached the door I knew would open into my house. Zachariah nodded at me and then walked off in the direction we had come. If I had not been watching him, I would have thought he had disappeared. I sighed once he was gone. What I would give to be as noiseless and graceful as him.

I opened the door and slipped into the house I shared with five other vamp slayers, all of which were boys. I quickly checked my watch. It was around 4:20 AM. We rose and slept as the vampires did, so that we would never be at a disadvantage. Since it was four, it meant that some people could still be up, and some might be drifting asleep.

I tiptoed up the stairs, knowing that someone would probably be sleeping on the couch right next to where I was coming up. As I reached the top, I leaned to the left to see who was occupying the couch tonight. It was Dustin. I smiled, grateful that he was asleep. Dustin, or Dusty, was from Texas, and I adored his Texan drawl but being a teenage boy, he was a little overbearing at times.

I tiptoed again, up the next flight of stairs and was almost safe to my room when a shadow stalked toward me. This had happened enough times that I knew how to react.

"James," I said calmly, trying not to be loud.

A grin appeared on his tan face.

"I heard you got yourself a partner," James said. I nodded, hoping he would let me pass.

"I heard he was a guy," He said, his smile growing wider.

I gritted my teeth. Who knew men gossiped so much.

"I'll tell you about it in the evening," I said. "I really need some sleep."

James studied my face for a moment, and then stepped aside to let me pass.

"In the evening," He said as a confirmation and then disappeared into his own room.

Since I was the only girl in the house, I got my own room, while most of the guys had to share rooms and bathrooms. I breathed a sigh of relief as I opened the door to my room. Of course, there was a note resting on my bed. I picked it up and read it.

"Ally. Hey, I heard you were assigned to a partner today. Congrats. Wish it had been me, but then I realized that you would have been too distracted by my charm and good looks. Talk to you in the morning. -Ricky"

I rolled my eyes. Ricky was housemate number 3. The two others, George and Kevin, had undoubtedly sent me emails and would likely also attack me in the morning. They were sometimes like a group of mother hens, as crazy as it sounds. I didn't even bother checking my emails, knowing that they would be full with questions and congratulations from the slayers at school. I just didn't want to see it. I wanted to change for bed, and then sink into my comforter, and then sleep like there was no tomorrow.

I tugged off my shoes and then shuffled into the bathroom.


	2. New Training

**New Training**

I pulled my hood up over my hair and half of my face, hoping that my baggy sweatshirt would be enough to disguise myself. People had been following me around from the second I stepped out of my room, asking questions. And I was sick of it.

"Please," I whispered to myself. "Please don't let anyone recognize me until I'm safely in class."

I had taken the long way to school, bypassing the extensive underground hallways for fresh air and trees. The sun was beginning to set at six, and I was on my way to my first training session with Zachariah.

The brisk, autumn air whipped around my face as I settled into a steady pace. There was no one out on the streets. It was almost as if I had the world to myself. No guys. No partners. No vampires.

I sighed and filled my lungs with air. As I continued to walk, I let my mind slip into blankness as I maintained my ritual scanning defense. My hood made it hard to see behind me, so after a few minutes, and no sign of familiar faces, I let it fall backwards.

The lowering sun sent promising rays of red and orange shooting high into the sky above me. When my eyes were not scouting the surrounding trees or streets, they were most certainly fixated on the beauty taking place above my head.

We were never forbidden to leave our safe houses. It just wasn't normally done because it wasn't, well, safe. Our complex world of underground tunnels was our safety net to not encounter any vampires when members of our coven were alone. I was taking a risk in taking this route, but in truth, I would rather face a vampire than the onslaught of classmates asking for the latest news on my partnership.

As I saw the tree marking our school's entrance in front of me, I felt the lingering of regret that my walk was over so soon. There truly was nothing better than a lonely walk to clear your mind.

I reached the tree and let my hand rest on the knot designated for those who wished to pass into our school. All of our doors operated in the same way. You simply had to be human to gain access. I was never sure how the knot, or the technology underneath it, determined that we were human. It was just the way things were, and I chose not to question it.

When the door did not open for me immediately as it usually did, I began to worry. I quickly scanned the woods around me, hoping that no one would see me standing there and think anything of my strange behavior. Finally, after a slight whirring sound, the door glided open and I slipped inside. Even with the approaching darkness outside, it had been much brighter out there than it was in here. I paused for a minute to let my eyes adjust.

Once I could make out the walls of the hallway, I began my trek into the dark abyss, anticipating the wall that I had walked into a couple times before. I had developed a method to avoid further pain and embarrassment. It was simple. I would count the seconds it took to walk from the door in the tree to my disastrous wall. If I walked at the same pace every time, the wall was roughly twenty-two seconds from the door.

I was on second fifteen. At eighteen, I stretched my hand out in front of me. At twenty, it made contact with solid concrete. I guess I was traveling a little fast today.

The wall was created in order to discourage any stray humans that wandered into our halls. Even if they accidently placed their hand on the knot, and stumbled inside, they would not find a way through our wall.

I cleared my throat and spoke.

"Ally Fronter," I said, enunciating clearly. "Reporting for training."

I waited silently for ten seconds, and then a familiar voice came over the intercom.

"Hey Ally," Daniel said. "I have wall duty today."

"I can hear that," I said, internally groaning. "Are you going to let me in?"

There was a hesitation.

"Only if you promise to have dinner with me tonight," He said finally. I immediately felt the urge to kick the wall.

"You know I can't turn around and go to the other entrance Daniel," I said grudgingly. "I'm already late as it is."

I could hear the smile in his tone as he replied.

"Well then I guess you'll just have to say yes."

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't wait until I got wall duty, and he was forced to wait outside the school as I determined his future.

"Ok, fine," I said. "But it's all on your tab."

Daniel laughed.

"Fine," He said. "See you at 1 o'clock. I'll pick you up."

I rubbed my forehead as the bricks in front of me slid backwards and to the side. Soon enough, there was sufficient space to walk through. The sight on the other side of the wall greatly contrasted the hall I was about to leave.

There was plenty of light, and the walls filled with pictures of historic vampire slayers. The ground was decorated with tiles and there were green, blooming plants in ever y corner of the room. Couches and arm chairs were situated in a homey fashion and at the head of this little, comfy foyer, there was an elevator to take slayers down to the school. I was greatly tempted to sit down and grab a magazine or Danish from the goody-laden coffee table amid the couches. But I already knew that Zachariah would probably be angry with my being late.

I quickly checked my watch. 6:44. Shoot, my training session was supposed to start at 6:35. I immediately pushed the down arrow on the panel besides the elevator and tapped my foot nervously as the elevator made its slow ascension to my floor.

I looked at my watch again. 6:46. I felt my pores begin to wetten with sweat. This was not going to give Zachariah a good impression of my work habits. When the elevator doors popped open, I immediately jumped inside and frantically pressed the close button, trying to hasten the elevator that seemed to get more sluggish by the second. I closed my eyes and waited for the ride to be over, grateful that the training gym was immediately to the right of the elevators.

When the doors opened again, I ran out, ignoring the displeased cries as I shoved my way toward the gym. I slid to a stop in front of the door and took a minute to compose myself, wiping away any sweat from my face and tucking loose strands of hair back into my ponytail. Then I pushed open the door.

He wasn't even there.

I looked for him for about, fifteen minutes, and then sat down on a workbench, paralyzed by anxiety. I hung my head between my knees and took deep, calming breaths. I knew I had to gain control of myself before anyone started milling over and noticing me.

Just as people began exchanging curious looks in my direction, I got up and walked to the gym office, where at least one or more council members always were. I paused before the thick wood door and knocked.

"Come in," A voice called out.

I opened the door and my eyes widened. I stood still, surprised to find Zachariah in the council member's office.

"Ah, Ally. You showed up," the council member said. His gaze was not unkind, but it was not kind either.

I immediately closed my mouth and cleared my throat.

"I'm really sorry," I said, ripping my eyes away from the irate Zachariah, perched on the counter to my left. "I underestimated the amount of time it took to walk from home to the gym."

The council member nodded curtly, and then gestured towards Zachariah.

"You partner has been waiting quite a while," the council member said. "Why don't you two go on and begin training?"

I nodded and then turned to Zachariah, who slid silently off the counter and brushed past me. I gave the council member a little wave and then turned to follow Zachariah out. He remained completely silent as he moved quickly to a corner of the gym. I felt the flutters of apprehension gathering in my stomach again. Was he just going to give me the silent treatment all day?

"Zachariah?" I said as we neared the door to the rooms for private training.

He was quiet until he reached the door and opened it.

"It's Zach," He said. His voice betrayed no emotion. It was almost mechanic.

He held the door and waited for me to go inside. I walked in front of him and stopped so that he would look straight at me.

"Look, I'm sorry Zach," I said. "I really didn't mean to be late. It won't ever happen again."

His deep blue eyes bored into mine. We both remained silent. He nodded.

"We have a lot of training to do, so I would appreciate it if you would be on time from this day on," He said, now sounding more like a human.

I nodded back, "I will, I promise."

He tilted his head towards the room.

"Shall we?"

I let a small smile form on my lips and then walked inside the room. I heard the door shut behind me as I scanned the room. One wall was lined with dummies, another with weapons, and the last with diagrams. I heard the clinking of metal behind me so I turned around and found Zach pushing aside knives in a large box. He withdrew two staffs and threw me one. I caught it.

"What's this for?" I asked, examining it. It appeared to just be a solid wood staff. I didn't know why he was showing it to me.

"Fighting," Zach said. When I looked up, he was holding the staff with two hands and posed to begin an attack. I gave him an incredulous look.

"You're teaching me how to fight with a wooden staff?" I asked. "Shouldn't we be working with silver knives, or stakes maybe?"

Then he finally smiled.

"The staff will help tone your fighting skills and minimize injuries," Zach said. "Besides, you won't be able to use a stake on me."

Then my eyebrows went up.

"Minimize injuries?" I said. "I didn't realize I would be getting injured in training."

He smiled again. I was on a roll.

"If you don't get used to being injured now, how will you deal with it in the real world?" Zach said, taking up his fighting stance again.

I blinked a few times, and then imitated his pose.

"I've never fought with a staff before," I said.

"I know," Zach said, "You aren't holding it right."

I quickly looked at his hands and then adjusted my own to match his.

"How's that?" I asked.

"Fine," Zach said, and then started forward. "Let's begin."

He stabbed his staff forward and I darted backwards, startled by his speed. He drew up straight.

"How are you going to fight a vampire?" He asked. "By running away?"

"No," I said. "I'm just not used to fighting with a staff."

His eyebrows rose.

"Vampires are not always predictable," He said. "Many have developed completely different fighting styles. As a slayer, you must learn to adapt quickly to another's fighting style, or you'll be killed."

It was pretty apparent to me now. Training was not going to be as easy as it had been in years past.

I resumed the fighting position and had barely a second before Zach was coming at me again. This time I stood my ground and whipped up the staff to parry his blow. I successfully blocked his first strike but then he whipped the other side of the staff around and hit my hip. I stumbled sideways but Zach kept going. I kept trying to block him, quickly feeling the sweat begin to gather on my face. As he bore down on me, Zach wore an intense expression of concentration.

He was completely on the offense. I had no time to retaliate as he twirled his staff, looking for openings in my defense. I felt his staff hit my body many times, at times hard and at times not. Finally, I let my guard down too much, and his staff swung to a stop an inch from my face. The room was filled with the sound of my labored breaths as Zach and I stared at each other. I could just imagine what I looked like right now. Sweat pouring down my face, hair all tangled and messed up; it was not a pretty picture.

I let my head drop.

"You win," I said.

Zach pulled out of his stance and propped the staff up against the wall.

"It's to be expected," He said quietly, not winded at all. "I have many more years of experience than you."

Had I not been breathing so hard, I would have laughed.

"You only have two or three years on me," I said. "That's not that much."

"You can kill a lot of vampires in two or three years," Zach said. "I was a fully-trained slayer when I turned seventeen. The past four years have given me more experience than I could ask for."

I quickly filed this piece of information away. So he was twenty-one.

"Well, I'm turning eighteen in December, as you know," I said. "I know I won't be a fully-trained vampire by then but one can always hope."

"Forget hope," Zach said bluntly.

"What?" I asked dumbly. How could someone say something so negative?

He met my curious gaze, "You must not rely on hope. If you want something to happen, make it happen. Don't wait and hope for it to go through. If you want to be a fully-trained slayer, you must work hard for it. Do not hope for what you can do."

I have to admit, my mouth dropped a little. Who would have thought that mysterious Zachariah would be so…I don't know, philosophical?

"It's time to go running," Zach said. He opened another side door that led to a tunnel.

I grimaced, "We have to run underground?"

Zach nodded, "There are vamps out now. We can't risk being caught when your training is incomplete."

I took a deep breath and stepped out into the dark hallway. Zach followed me and then began jogging. I quickly matched his pace and then concentrated on my breathing. I listened for Zach's breathing so that I could know what I should keep my pace at, but I did not hear anything. Of course. A good vampire slayer is silent and undetectable. I might as well have been running alone for all the noise Zach was making. I let my thoughts turn inwards as I settled into my own breathing pattern.


	3. A Painful Date

**A Painful Date**

I reached for the keys in my pocket and groaned as my hand came in contact with a bruise on my side. Squeezing my eyes shut, I dug through my pocket and retrieved my house key. I quickly unlocked the door and then slowly limped inside. Every bone ached, every joint burned, every muscle screamed. I was dead tired and ready to take a nice long bubble bath.

I glanced at the clock. It was 12:28 AM. The boys were probably all propped up in front of the TV, watching some sort of idiotic comedy. I inched my way towards the stairs and smiled at the sight of all of my roommates in the exact positions I imagined them. They were so predictable.

Dusty saw me first.

"Ally!" He said, giving me a wide smile. "How'd training go?"

"Painfully," I said. "I don't think I'll be able to move for a week."

Dusty chuckled.

"I hope you're over exaggerating, because Daniel was boasting earlier about how he hooked a date with you at one o' clock," He said.

I immediately groaned.

"Shoot, I completely forgot," I said. "Ah, I don't think I can go out tonight without moaning and groaning everywhere I go. I need to heal before he beats me up again tomorrow."

The other boys finally tore their eyes away from the television screen to notice that I was home.

"Hey Ally!" rang out among them. I waved and then gave them a quick smile before trekking upstairs. As soon as I was inside my room and on my bed, I let out a huge sigh of relief and then crawled beneath my covers. I had never had a more intense workout than I had today. After running we did weights, more staff practice, and then Zach finally slowed down a little with some diagrams. I was completely exhausted. And bruised.

I let each breath take me deeper into sleep. Every time I breathed air out, I felt my body sink into the bed beneath me. It felt so nice…

"Ally Cat!" Someone yelled at the door. Then the knocking began.

I pulled my sheets over my head.

"Go away!" I said, not willing to shout.

"Ally, Daniel is here!" Whoever it was yelled.

I jolted up and winced from the pain. Oh shoot, I forgot again. Oh Daniel, please understand, please let me take a rain check.

"Tell him to come up here," I yelled at the person behind the door.

I heard retreating footsteps and then turned carefully onto my other side. Good, the door was unlocked so Daniel could come straight in. I closed my eyes and waited for footsteps to approach my door. A minute later, they finally came.

"Ally?" Daniel's voice came through the door. "Are you all right?"

"You can come in Daniel," I said. After a slight hesitation, Daniel opened the door. His brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"What are you doing in bed at one o' clock in the morning?" Daniel asked, his tone concerned. "Are you sick?"

"No," I said. "I'm just torn up and bruised from my first day of training."

Daniel's eyes widened, "Did he work you too hard? I can talk to the council and get him to take it easier on you."

I immediately shook my head. Zach would think I was a complete baby.

"No, it's alright Daniel," I said quickly. "I know this will help me become a better slayer. But I don't think I will be able to go out tonight."

Daniel nodded, "Yeah, okay. I understand. Some other time then?"

I smiled at him.

"Yeah, we'll think of something another time," I said. "Sorry."

Daniel smiled back.

"It's fine Ally," He said. As he was about to walk through the door, Daniel stopped. His grin grew wider.

"Well now that you can't move, I can do something I've wanted to do for a while," He said, moving forward quickly and kneeling beside my bed.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It" I growled at him. He ignored my protest and brought his left hand to my face and gently caressed it. Before I could even attempt to bring my arm up, Daniel was kissing me. Knowing how long Daniel had been waiting for this, I let him keep going for a few seconds. It was…kind of nice. Not exactly sparks flying everywhere. But Daniel was a good kisser, even when I was keeping my mouth shut.

I pulled my head away, "You jerk. That's called sexual harassment."

Daniel grinned cockily.

"But you won't report me, because you liked it."

I squinted at him.

"Try it again and see how much I liked it. I'll bite your tongue off."

Daniel laughed at me and then rose.

"I hope you feel better Ally," He said. "I want to have that date soon."

With a debonair smile, Daniel left my room and closed the door behind him. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. What was I going to do with him?


	4. The Second Day

**The Second Day**

At five o'clock, my alarm woke me up. I carefully stretched out my body and found that it was even sorer than yesterday. But I wasn't tired anymore. I groaned and got out of bed. I couldn't be late again. I grabbed a pair of workout shorts and a comfy tee. I slipped on a jacket as well since it was bound to be cold in the hallways.

I walked to my bathroom sink and began brushing my teeth. After I spit, I grabbed my brush and made a few runs through my hair, noticing it was beginning to creep past my shoulders. I quickly gathered it up into a ponytail and tied it off with a hair band. Hopefully, it would keep out of my face today.

After applying the tiniest bit of eye shadow and eyeliner, I ran downstairs. Surprisingly, Kevin was awake. Even more surprisingly, he was washing the dishes.

"What's up with you?" I asked while grabbing some bread from the fridge.

"I lost a bet," He said with a smile. "I didn't think that you would let Daniel kiss you."

I tore a piece of crust off my bread and threw it at him.

"You guys were spying on us last night?" I said.

He laughed, "Well you left the door open." I rolled my eyes at him.

"You boys are worse than a whole house of old ladies, you know that?" I said. I quickly toasted my two slices of bread and buttered them while Kevin continued to make a soapy mess of the dishes. As I walked to the door, Kevin yelled back at me.

"Good luck, Ally Cat!" He said. "I hear you need it."

I ignored him and plunged into the cold darkness of the hallways. Even with my jacket, I shivered from the cold. I began quick-walking to the school gym, rubbing my arms along the way.

I passed no one else. It always seemed like the hallways were empty except for me. I had always thought of them as the perfect place for a nightmare. As I walked, I checked my watch. 6:13. Good, I wasn't going to be late. It was about a ten minute walk from our house to the school. And I had already walked for a few minutes.

As I continued to walk quickly, I noticed that my steps were rebounding off the walls. I began place my feet more carefully, trying to walk without any sound. I kept my body still as I walked, trying not to let any movement from my clothes to make noise. I breathed in and out slowly, making sure that I remained silent. I smiled as I realized that I could no longer hear myself in the hallway. Just as I was congratulating myself, I saw the door on the right.

I knocked on it three times and it slid open. The room was much like the one on the other side of the school. But instead of an elevator, the room went straight into the school. There were quite a few people walking around, most likely getting to classes or the gym.

I made my way to the gym, careful to avoid bumping into the people rushing to class. Then someone grabbed my jacket. I whirled around.

"Ally!" The person yelled. "How did you get partnered with the most beautiful man at school?"

My mouth dropped open, "Shut up Shelley, everyone will hear you." She just kept going.

"You are sooooo lucky," She said. "Zachariah Gery is probably the most desirable partner in the world. Everyone wants to be partnered with him."

I was unsure how to respond to her.

"Uh, yeah," I said, beginning to turn away. "Well thanks. I guess."

"Wait, Ally," Shelley said. I turned back.

"I've only seen a glimpse of him," She said. "Tell me what he looks like."

I rolled my eyes. Women had to stick together in the slayer world. I liked hanging out with the other female slayers, but if they ever went boy-crazy, it was harder to stick with them.

"Later, Shelley," I said. "I'm going to be late for training."

Her eyes bugged out.

"You're going to train with him right now?" She practically screamed. "Can I come watch?"

"Cool it Shelley," another familiar voice said. "You have to go to class, or you'll never graduate."

Daia slid into place beside me, looking at Shelley with a grin. Daia was one of the people who kept me sane and could always make me laugh. I guess I considered her to be my best friend. Shelley shrugged, seemingly taking Daia's words seriously.

"I don't think they would set me back if I missed one class."

I arched my eyebrow, "I don't think the council would look kindly on an audience during my training sessions."

At this, Shelley huffed but said nothing, clearly not having a good argument to continue the conversation.

"But you'll introduce me if we ever meet," She said, as if I was obligated to for some forsaken reason.

"I don't think I even know him well enough to introduce him to other people, but sure Shelley, sure."

At this, Shelley smiled and gave us a wave goodbye before heading toward class.

"Sometimes, that girl," Daia said quietly.

"I completely agree," I said, turning to her. "You're not about to ask me a million questions too, are you?"

She turned to me as well and shook her head, her tightly-wound curls moving gently. She had been slowly growing them out, and I adored their caramel color and spiral shape.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay with everything that's going on," she said. "And protect you from crazy people."

I laughed, "Thanks. I kind of wish I had an invisibility cloak."

"Just let me know who you want to bug off and I'll scare them for you," she said.

"Hm, how about Chelsea," I said. "She looks like she's about to charge over here."

She turned with me to see Chelsea from across the hall, striding over with intent in her eyes.

"Ah, well, I'll see you later hm?" With that, Daia headed straight toward Chelsea with a large smile plastered on her face.

I heard her exclaim Chelsea's name as I turned on my heel and walked quickly toward the gym. Were all the girls in the school going to act like this? If so, I would be fine with going back to having no partner. I did not like being grabbed and harassed with questions.

I swung open the gym door and walked inside. It was completely empty, except for Zach sitting on a bench against the wall.

"Where is everyone?" I asked him. He stood up and walked over to me.

"There was a missions meeting today," Zach said, concentrating his icy gaze on me. "Everyone with a partner is at that meeting. And all students are in class or at home."

My heart leapt a little.

"A missions meeting?" I said, trying to contain my excitement. "Are we going?"

"If we were going, we would be half an hour late," He said.

My hopes fell.

"We may be able to attend the next one in two weeks though," Zach said. "If you train hard."

I smiled at him.

"That sounds good," I said, pulling off my jacket. "Let's train."

When I had pulled the jacket over my head, I saw that Zach was looking at my hips. I looked down as well and saw that my shirt had come up a little when I was pulling up my jacket. A line of skin was showing, along with one of my nasty bruises. I looked back up at Zach's face. He showed no emotion.

"Does it hurt?" He asked quietly.

I stared at him. He sounded almost, well, regretful. I tugged down my shirt.

"It's fine," I said. "It's just a little sore."

Zach nodded and began to walk to the little room we had gone to yesterday. I followed him into the room and then tossed my jacket into a corner, thinking that we would begin with more staff practice. As I reached for the staff, Zach stopped me.

"Maybe later," He said. "We're going to go over some slayer strategies right now."

I blinked. Go over slayer strategies? Yeah, I was all for any activity that didn't involve getting me beaten up, but Zach didn't seem like the guy to give me a break on the second day of training. Especially if he wanted to go on a mission in the next few weeks.

"Okay," I said slowly. "So what strategies am I in need of learning?"

Apparently, there were a lot. We spent at least two hours on strategies and how to execute them. And afterwards, Zach picked up the staffs again. He handed me one and then assumed his pose.

"We're going to take it slower today, so you can learn how to fight effectively with the staff," Zach said. Again I became suspicious.

"Okay, boss," I said. "Whatever you say."

"I am not your boss," Zach said, sounding a little amused. "I am your partner, and right now, your mentor. Do not forget that we must learn to work together."

I nodded, watching him to make sure he wouldn't spring a surprise attack on me.

"We will go over partner strategies in the next few days," He said.

I nodded again, and waited. After a pause, Zach swung his staff up so that he was holding it with both hands.

"The most important thing to learn is breathing," Zach said. "Breathing and concentration. Without either, you cannot easily defeat a vampire, unless they are starving or weak. You must learn to adapt a breathing style that is silent and steady."

He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and closed his eyes. I could see his chest moving, but there was no sound of breathing. I spread my feet apart as well, but didn't close my eyes. I watched Zach. He opened his eyes again.

"I can hear your breathing," He said. I immediately closed my eyes and began making my breathing silent. As I took in breath after breath, I felt my body relax and my focus. A cool hand touched my neck. My eyes sprang open and I broke concentration.

Zach was a foot away from me, with his hand on my neck. I was forced to look up at his face since he stood so close. His scent drifted towards me and I felt by breath catch. I forgot about my breathing, and my concentration. His face was so close, and his hand was lightly grasping the base of my neck. I was about to take a step forward when he drew away.

"I can hear your breathing again," He said. "You must not fall out of the pattern. It could cost you your life."

My mouth dropped open. He did that as a test? And I was about to move closer to him. Wow, I would have been incredibly embarrassed.

I immediately closed my eyes and went back to my breathing. Don't let him distract you, I told myself. Don't fall for another one of his tests. Just keep breathing…silently…

I heard Zach's footsteps as he moved around the room. I chose to ignore them as they proceeded to sound around me in circles. He would not distract me this time.

Breath in, breath out. Breath in, Breath out. Quietly, now, don't let him hear you…Breath in, breath out.

"Open your eyes now," Zach said.

I did. But Zach wasn't in front of me. I whirled around and found him, holding up his staff to my neck. What was this?

"You weren't aware that I was right behind you?" Zach asked, lowering his staff. "I made it so you could hear my footsteps."

"I was concentrating," I said. "I didn't realize that meant listening for you too."

Zach sighed, "When I say concentrate I don't mean tune in to yourself and only yourself. It means opening your senses so that you can detect things around you."

I nodded and closed my eyes again, knowing that he would probably ask me to do it again. This time, there were no footsteps. I felt a breeze to my left, and then a swish of cloth. I whipped up my staff to the left and opened my eyes. My staff was in Zach's face, and he was smiling.

"Good," Zach said. "But you forgot my own staff."

I noticed that the end of his staff was just behind my neck.

"You must make sure that they cannot hurt you while you are about to defeat them," Zach said.

I withdrew my staff and closed my eyes once more, promising myself that I would get it right this time.

When I heard slight creak diagonally behind me, I didn't hesitate. I crouched down and whirled around just in time to see Zach's staff strike midair. I whipped up my staff to meet his and shoved it aside while bringing up the other side to meet Zach's neck. He paused for a second and looked as though he was giving up. But then I saw the defiant look in his eyes and I immediately ducked as his staff swung up towards my head.

I shoved my staff up to his hand and tapped it hard to make him drop his staff. Zach grunted but did not let go. I stood, grabbing his hand that held the staff and then used my other hand to press my own staff into his neck. After a minute in this position, Zach smiled.

"Well done," He said. "Now let's do it again, but I don't want to hear you breathing this time."

Shoot, I had completely forgotten about the breathing. I refrained from groaning out loud; I didn't want Zach to think that I was getting tired.

I closed my eyes again and opened my senses, listening and feeling or any small indication of where Zach was. This time, it was the sound of his staff against the wood floor, directly in front of me. I darted to the side, drawing up my staff to defend myself. My eyes opened to see Zach approaching me quickly, with his staff in position for attack. As he struck and I blocked, I reminded myself, breathe quietly.

My blocks became mindless and dependent on instinct. He struck left, I blocked left. He whipped his staff under; I jumped back and made a strike toward his head. He ducked. All the while, I was thinking, breath. When Zach thrust his staff toward my neck and I dodged it sideways, I found my chance. I used my staff to shove the staff sideways, ensuring that it wouldn't hurt me again, and then used my other hand to grab Zach's neck. I squeezed lightly and smiled at him. After a minute, he smiled back.

"Good," Zach said. "You're a quick learner."

I nodded and let go of his neck, trying not to think of the heat coursing to my face at the contact of my hand with his warm neck.

"I don't want to hear your breathing for the rest of the time we're together," Zach said. "Practice it all the time, make it a habit."

I nodded. We stood there staring at each other in silence for half a minute.

"We'll probably be able to attend the next missions meeting," Zach said.

I broke out in a full smile. Yes! Missions! This was what I had been waiting for my entire time at the Slayer's Institute.

"But you have to continue to train hard," Zach said. "You still have much to learn."

I nodded vigorously. Anything to start doing missions was fine with me.

"Alright," Zach said. "Let's do it again."

I closed my eyes once more. When I heard the sound of skin rubbing against skin, I smiled and struck to my right.


	5. A Missions Meeting

**A Missions Meeting**

As Zach and I strode towards the council room, I reviewed yesterday's events anxiously. When we had begun our training session, several council members were sitting in the room, watching. When we first began training, I was extremely nervous. Zach saw this, and got me comfortable again by starting with our staff practice. So after a while, I forgot that they were there. After training, they nodded at us and then left.

Later, Zach had told me that that viewing session was to see whether we were ready to work in the field as partners. And if so, what type of mission we would work best under.

I played with my fingers nervously as we neared the council room. Zach looked at me.

"Concentrate on your breathing and some of your nerves will go away," He said. I nodded and did as he suggested. Although the sound of my breathing disappeared, my nerves did not. But I dropped my hands to my side anyway to let Zach think that his suggestion had worked.

As we approached the council door, I felt my heart begin to gallop. Somehow, Zach must have sensed this because he stopped and pulled me to the side of the hall.

"Ally," He said. "You must relax. It will do you no good to worry about what's going to happen in there."

"I'm not worried," I said. "I'm just excited, and maybe a little nervous."

"Do you have a reason to be nervous?" Zach asked. I thought about it for a second.

"Not really," I said quietly.

"See," He said, just as quietly. "There's no reason to worry. We'll just go in there and wait to receive our assignment."

I nodded and then followed him through the door, into the council room. The room had been rearranged. There was a row of chairs in the front that were all filled with council members. The large table they had been sitting around was gone and numerous chairs stood in its place. There were other partners sitting in these chairs, but none as young as Zach and I. They were all male, except two female pairs towards the front of the room.

Zach led me to the chairs in the back and we both sat down. As soon as I was comfortable, I noticed that none of the couples in the room were speaking. Their attention was completely directed at the council members in front. Their bodies were also completely still. I looked over at Zach and saw that he too, was not moving.

After a few minutes of fighting to not fidget, the council members finally began the meeting.

"Welcome fellow slayers," the head of the council said. "We will now begin our missions meeting. We would like to start by introducing our newest partners, Slayer Zachariah Gery and Trainee Arabella Fronter."

All heads immediately turned toward us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zach nod at them and I immediately copied him. They all nodded back and then turned once more to the front.

"We are very glad to have them join our ranks," The council member said. "And now onto the missions."

After that, board members called the names of partners, who would walk silently to the front and receive a manila folder which apparently, contained the information about the mission they were sent on. I listened for our names with growing apprehension. Most of the partners had gone up now, and the pile of manila folders was dwindling.

"Don't worry Ally," Zach said. "We will be called up. Be patient."

I nodded and tried to relax. Two minutes later, there were no manila folders left, and we had not been called up. A cold hand clasped my heart. Had they decided at the training yesterday that I wasn't ready? I looked over at Zachariah. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed. He looked as if he was confused as well.

"Thank you all for coming today," The head council member said. "We appreciate your dedication to our cause. You are dismissed. Zachariah Gery and Arabella Fronter, please come to the front."

Zach immediately rose and made his way to the front. I almost tripped over the chair next to me in my haste to follow him. When we had reached the front of the room, the council members had gathered their chair together in a semi-circle. Zach stopped at its opening, so I did as well.

The head councilman smiled at me, "Peace Ally, do not let your nerves get the best of you. You will be receiving a mission today."

My eyes widened and I nodded. How could he tell that I was so nervous?

"The reason that we did not ask you to come up with everyone else to receive your mission is that we have a dilemma," The head councilman said, drawing himself up.

For the first time, I noticed that some of the council men were giving each other contemptuous looks. This had to do with us?

"As you may see, the council members are not very agreeable with one another today," The head councilmember said. "This is because they debating which of two missions to send you on."

"Both would be perfect for a man-woman partnership such as yourself," Another council member said. "But we are split as to which to send you two on."

I glanced at Zach; he was stone faced. I looked back at the council members. They were still shooting each other disdainful looks.

"Why don't you just send us on both?" I asked, hoping to keep the council members from being angry at each other.

The head councilman gave me a wide smile. Then, I felt a hand grab my elbow.

"Would you excuse us for a minute?" Zach asked in a calm, polite tone, but his fingers digging into my arm told me that he was not pleased.

The council members nodded and Zach pulled me away from the circle and towards the other side of the room.

"Why are you so angry?" I asked him when he finally let go and turned to face me.

He shook his head, "I'm not angry. I just want to warn you about taking on two missions."

"Why?" I asked.

"As soon as we take on two for this meeting, they'll be asking us to take two missions every meeting," Zach said, his eyes boring into my own.

"You don't think we can handle that?" I asked him, looking back at the council members to make sure they were still there.

"I just—I just don't want you to have to handle too much too soon," Zach said, looking away.

I stared at him and then smiled. He was worried about me.

"It'll be fine," I said, trying to reassure him. "If it ever gets to be too much, I promise I'll tell you and we can just ask the council members for a break."

Zach sighed and turned back to the council members, "Fine. Let's tell them."

I smiled again and followed him back to the semi-circle.

The councilmember no longer appeared to be angry with each other. They all gave us their full attention.

"Will you do both then?" the head councilman asked.

I nodded. They turned to look at Zach, and after a pause, he nodded as well. They all smiled and the head councilman pulled out two manila folders from behind him.

"Ally, Zach will go over how to handle missions with you," the head councilman said. "Good luck, we know that you will do well."

I thanked them and then walked out the room with Zach close behind me.

"So when are we going to look at the missions?" I asked.

"When we get to the training room," Zach said, and began leading me off to the left. I had no idea where we were going so I made sure not to let him get ahead of me. Around five minutes later, I began to recognize this hallway as the one I usually used to get to the gym. Zach quickly led me through the entry room and down the hall to the gym. Once inside, he headed straight for our training room.

I smiled at the people in the gym as we strode by, trying to appear less strange. As soon as I was inside the training room, Zach locked the doors and led me to the corner farthest from both doors. He sat on the floor and gestured for me to follow. As soon as I sat down, Zach pulled the manila folders out from his coat and laid them on the floor in front of us. When I reached to open the first folder, Zach stopped me.

"We must first go over the guidelines of a mission," Zach said. I pulled my hand back and nodded at him, ready to listen.

"First, you may never tell anyone else what our mission is until after it is complete," Zach said. "Second, understand that the date suggested for the mission to take place is the time during which the vampires will be most vulnerable, and it is never guaranteed that there will be any other good time to kill them. Third, make sure you read everything in the folder; nothing is irrelevant."

"I understand," I said, my fingers itching to open the folders.

"Upon the completion of a mission, we are to call the council through a special phone line," Zach said. "Do you have any questions?"

I shook my head, too excited to think of anything. Zach let the silence settle, waiting to see if I would come up with any questions. When I said nothing, he sighed and slid closer to me, flipping open the first folder. I immediately bent forward. The first thing I saw was two pictures featuring two different men.

"These are the targets," Zach said. "These pictures were taken when they were human so they will look a little different from what they look like now."

Both of the pictures looked like mug shots that would go in a yearbook.

"How old are they now?" I asked.

"They were turned about a year ago in college," Zach said, his eyes already skimming down the page. "So they look like college kids, which would explain why we're supposed to crash a college party they're going to."

I immediately began to worry.

"I look too young to be at a college party," I said.

Zach took one look at me and shook his head.

"You'll be fine," He said. "You look like a college student. Maybe a young one, but still old enough to be at a college party. And if anyone talks to you they'll be able to see that you're mature enough."

I nodded, glad to know that my partner thought that I was mature.

"We will be posing as a couple invited to the party," Zach said, now reading off the second page. "The party starts at 9:30 and has no set end time. Since no one gets to parties right away, we will arrive at around 10:30. The vamps will most likely be arriving from 11:00 to 11:30 for some feeding. We need to find them at the party and kill them before anyone is fed on."

"Okay," I said, digesting it all. "When is the party?"

"In two days," Zach said. "It's located at a college about an hour's drive away from here."

I stiffened, "An hour away? I haven't been more than fifteen minutes walking distance away from this school since I came here when I was thirteen."

Zach gave me a small smile, "Well then it will be an adventure for you won't it?"

I shrugged, not sure about how I felt about leaving the school.

"I'm sure the second one will be even farther away," Zach said. "Most of the vampires in this area have already been eliminated, but no one wants to move the school because it would cost too much money."

He then picked up the second folder and handed it to me.

"Alright, now read it and tell me all the vital information, like I did for you for the first mission," Zach said before leaning back against the wall.

I opened the folder and was greeted by the face of a man who looked Zach's age. He was smiling; no worry lines marred his perfectly smooth face. His hair was carefully combed back and his teeth shone a remarkable white. He wore a black suit and bow tie.

"This target appears to be more distinguished than the other two," I said, pulling out the picture to show Zach. He examined it for a moment and then looked back at me, waiting for me to continue.

I read the two papers in the folder, collecting the important information to reiterate to Zach.

"The target is Jeremiah Forester, who was born into a wealthy family," I said. "He was turned at the age of twenty-three about five years ago. He still enjoys living the life he did when he was human so he attends numerous parties. We are to attend one of the parties as a couple. The closest and soonest party is a week from today in Philadelphia, which is five hours away if you drive. The target does not feed at his parties, which means that he will most likely have eaten before attending them."

I looked up at Zach and he nodded.

"Good," He said. "Now, what will be the difference in the difficulty of these two missions?"

"The first one has younger vampires who will be hungry when we approach them, making them less tactful but stronger targets," I said immediately, recollecting what we had learned in slayer classes. "Their youth indicates that they will be inexperienced whereas the second mission has an older vampire who may have more experience. This combined with the likeliness that he will be full, will make him the harder target to defeat."

"Very good," Zach said. "This is all very important information to remember when planning how to attack a target. For example, our first targets are young and as you said, inexperienced. They will not be on their guard because they do not realize that there is something to be on guard against. At the party, they will probably coax a girl to go alone with one of them in a room and then feed off her. We should attack them as soon as they have their target in a room but not so late that they have already begun to feed on her. We will have to be very careful with our timing."

I nodded and waited for Zach to continue.

"We must always wear clothing that will allow us to blend in," Zach said. "So in this case, we will be wearing casual party clothes. In our second mission however, our clothing will need to be more formal."

"How do we get this clothing?" I asked.

"Well for our first mission I'm sure you have something in your own closet you can wear," Zach said. "But for the second, we will need to go out and buy ourselves outfits."

He flipped to the back of the second folder and pointed out an almost invisible pocket in the folder.

"In this pocket, there is money and any other items needed for the trip," Zach said, while reaching into the pocket and pulling out an envelope along with a number of large bills. "In this case, we receive money for clothes and transportation as well as an invitation to the gala we will be attending."

Zach slipped the money and envelope back into the folder and then shut it.

"We only have tomorrow to train before our first mission, so I suggest you get some good sleep tonight," Zach said. "You'll need it."

I looked at the clock, "We still have the rest of today. It's only 10:30."

Zach looked at the clock as well, and then looked down at his watch.

"And so we do," He said, grinning at me. "Let's get to work then."


	6. Just the Beginning

**Just the Beginning**

I grasped my clutch tightly, feeling the solid silver stake that was hidden inside. We had been in the car for fifty minutes and Zach had said that we would be getting to the party in about five minutes. I concentrated on the passing scenery, although it was shrouded in darkness. Zach and I had mostly remained silent the whole drive, but it wasn't an awkward silence, which I was glad for. If it had been awkward, I would have been tempted to chat brainlessly in order to fill the silence.

"When we get there, it's best to act like college students," Zach said. "College students that would go to a party like this."

I smiled, "Okay, so don't sound overly mature or sophisticated."

"Exactly," Zach said, beginning to slow down.

When he switched on his turning signal, I noticed the large sign for the university we were going to. The road we turned onto led us down a long tree tunnel. As the reaching branches passed overhead, I slipped on my low heels, preparing to get out of the car. Houses began to appear, most with Greek lettering on them, signifying fraternity and sorority houses.

Zach rolled down the windows and the frigid air rushed in. I refused to let myself shiver as I glanced over at Zach. His eyes were roving down the rows of houses. I turned to look as well. While many of the houses were lit, my gaze fell upon one with flashing lights and the thrum of music beats reaching out into the streets. I was about to point it out to Zach, but he had already begun turning onto the street it was on. Since the spaces on the street closest to the house were filled with partygoers' cars, Zach parked towards the mouth of the street, even making a U-turn so that our car would be facing out for an easy get-away when we left.

Once Zach turned off the car, we both got out. I crossed my arms and pulled them close to my body as I surveyed the area around us. Zach came around to my side of the car.

"Are you cold?" He asked.

I immediately shook my head, dropping my arms. But the cool air rushed in where my arms had been keeping me warm and I instinctively shivered. Zach pulled off his jacket.

"No," I quickly said. "I don't need it. I'm fine." Zach just shook his head and offered it to me.

"For appearances sake, Ally," Zach said. "Couples take care of each other. If I was your real boyfriend, I would offer you my jacket if I thought you might be cold."

I stared at him for a moment and then took his jacket, draping it over my shoulders.

"Thanks," I said grudgingly, not one to enjoy appearing like the weak and helpless damsel in distress.

Zach chuckled a little and then began walking toward the house. Once we were closer, he casually grabbed my hand. I ignored the little shock that ran between our hands; I knew it was just a cover.

"Ready?" He asked me, keeping his eyes on the house in front of us.

"Ready," I said, excited for our first mission to begin.

We reached the door and Zach rang the doorbell. When no one answered after a minute he simply opened the door. The music grew louder and I could see the multitudes of bodies inside. Just as Zach was about to move inside, a blonde student came to the door. He had a little trouble walking straight to the door and he had this goofy grin on his face. It was obvious he had been doing a little drinking.

He gave me and Zach an assessing look and then opened his mouth, but Zach cut him off.

"Hey man," Zach said, sounding a bit like a surf bum. "Good to see you again!"

The guy leaned forward a little and looked closer at Zach, "Dude, do I know you?"

I looked at Zach, waiting to see how he would play this. Zach gave the drunken guy an incredulous look.

"Man, are you wasted?" Zach said. "We met last week at that lame party. You invited me to your party and said I could bring my girl along."

The guy looked at me and then back at Zach, now smiling again.

"Well, I am a bit drunk," He said. "Come on in."

As Zach pulled me into the house, the blonde guy breathed into my face.

"And dude, I like your girl," He said, laughing a little.

I struggled not to puke as I fanned the alcoholic fumes away from my face. I tried my hardest not to bump into the gyrating dancers as Zach led me through the crowd. When I felt a pinch in the general area of my butt, I whirled around to find some creepy guy smiling at me. Before I could reach over and grab him, Zach tugged me further away and I concentrated once more on scouring the crowd for vamps.

After a couple minutes of moving our way through the large throng of people, Zach stopped and pulled me close. With the music blaring as loud as possible, Zach had to lean in close and practically yell in order for me to hear what he wanted to tell me.

"Keep a wary eye out," He said. "Give special attention to the stairs and corners of the room. They won't feel very comfortable in the midst of a crowd so they tend to linger on the outskirts where they can find their next victim. I would say that we should split up but when we're looking for two vampires it is even more dangerous."

I nodded so that he would know I had heard him. We continued to slowly move through the crowd, paying more attention to our surroundings than where we were placing our feet.

Normal humans, being fairly obtuse for most of their lives, are mostly unable to determine a vampire from a human. But slayers were trained to pick a vampire out of a hundred humans. Vampires are never obviously inhuman unless they are hungry, which is when they cannot hide their fangs, their eyes turn red, and their skin turns deathly pale. A well-fed vampire is almost undistinguishable from a human, but there's always something to tell them apart.

Most of the time, it's a marked solemnity, or seriousness about them. They are constantly on the watch for their next prey, and that gives them the instincts of a predator. Predators are silent, stealthy, and deadly. That predator nature is what makes any vampire stand out from a human.

While I was making my fifth surveillance of the stairway, Zach squeezed my hand. I looked at him and he nodded at a corner to my right. I waited for a moment and then looked over casually. Bingo. Two male vampires, chatting up a girl on the loveseat by the window. She had on the same goofy grin as the boy who had greeted us at the door had, and I was certain that it wouldn't be long before she followed them upstairs.

"Let's move to the stairs," Zach said. As we navigated our way to the staircase, I took glances back at the threesome in the corner, relieved every time I saw that they hadn't moved yet. But it unnerved me to see one of the boys lean in close to the girl with a feral smile on his face while she stared at him, obviously transfixed. It was so easy for them to catch their prey, it was ridiculous.

When Zach and I reached the top of the stairs, he gently pushed me against the wall and then buried his face in my hair. I was stunned.

"Wha—," I began to ask, but was quickly cut off by Zach whispering in my ear.

"Sorry," he said. "This is the easiest way for you to watch them and be able to attack them as soon as they get upstairs. It would look strange if we were to just stand up here."

I nodded lightly, trying to ignore the feel of Zach's breath on my neck. I let my eyes roam the room as I smiled for our pretense, pretending that Zach was whispering endearments or perhaps kissing my neck. His hands rested on my hips, and I could feel the heat of them burning through my clothes. After a few minutes of this awkward positioning, I saw the vampires rise, along with the girl. The one that had been chatting with her earlier had her hand in his and they were making their way to the staircase.

"They're coming," I said quickly, continuing to smile.

I felt Zach tense up a little.

"When they're halfway up the stairs, close your eyes and pretend like you're enjoying a little romantic interlude," Zach said.

"Ok," I said.

They were on the first step. Vampire boy one was looking back at the girl, smiling at her. The second was looking up the stairs, toward me and Zach. I looked away, not daring to chance the vampires realizing that we were watching them. When in my peripheral vision I saw the first vampire approach with a confident grin on his face, I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, acting as if I was affected by Zach.

Then a real gasp escaped from me when Zach's warm lips actually touched my neck. My eyes flew open of my own volition; luckily the vampires were already past us. Zach had also pulled back, turning his head slightly so that he would be able to see where the vamps were going. I took the time to calm myself, to remind myself that it was all a façade, and that I would have to get used to these sorts of things with a male partner.

As soon as I heard a door click shut, Zach shoved off the wall. I followed quickly behind him as we headed to the door the vampires disappeared into. Zack drew his stake and I did as well, dropping the clutch to the ground outside the door. It wasn't as if I was going to use it against the vampires.

With his hand on the handle, Zach nodded at me. I nodded back right away, ready to take down these vampires. Zach shoved the door open.

I immediately saw them, hovering over the limp girl's body on the bed. Both turned to us with their fangs exposed. Angry and hungry red eyes glared at us as both vampires came off the bed and moved closer to us.

"What do we have here?" Vampire one asked, practically growling with his smooth voice.

"A bigger meal I think," Vampire two said, smiling at us.

"Think again," Zach said, lunging toward the closest vampire, leaving me to deal with vampire one.

The vampire smiled at me cruelly.

"You think you can kill me girly?" He asked, laughing.

A shriek of pain sounded from my left, telling me that Zach had staked his vampire. My own vampire looked over at his friend, distracted by his howls. I took my opportunity. I aimed from under so that I could avoid all the bones protecting the dead man's heart. As soon as I shoved the stake up under his rib cage, he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Then he swung at me. That meant I hadn't hit the heart. Dang, I grumbled under my breath. I knew I had to find a solid weapon before the guy started to really attack me. I took a chance and glanced over at Zach. His vampire was on the bed, eyes wide open, staring into nothingness. Zach was leaning against the wall with another stake in hand, watching my battle. This was a test.

My vampire was using both hands to grasp at the stake I had shoved halfway into his body. He began emitting short burst of pained groans as he pulled it out. I could see his hands burning as he touched the stake, but I guess he had decided that his hands were not as important as his insides. I quickly looked around. There was a heavy candlestick to my right. I quickly grabbed it and turned back just in time to see my vampire dropping my silver stake to the ground.

"You will pay for this," He said, his face still twisted in pain.

I didn't hesitate. I swung the candlestick full force at his face. With a slower reaction time, he managed to just barely catch it before it hit him. He yanked it away from me and I swooped down to grab the stake he had just dropped.

The vampire howled once he saw the stake in my hand and readjusted his grip on the candlestick, pulling his arm back as if he was about to hurl it at me. I knew I would have to get it away from him if I wanted to get close enough to stake him. Think Ally, think.

When the candlestick came hurtling towards my face, I acted on pure instinct. My body hit the floor as the heavy candlestick smashed into the wall behind me. I quickly shot up off the floor, darting towards the vampire. Just as he reached his arms out to grab me, I thrust my stake through his skin, between his ribs, and into his heart. I could see the moment it pierced his heart too. His eyes grew wide and blank; his body stopped moving towards me and instead staggered backwards.

I watched as he collapsed on the bed and then turned towards Zach.

"I thought the whole point of having a partner was that they helped you fight," I said crassly.

Zach used his leg to push himself off the wall.

"Before we can work as partners in the field, I have to make sure that you can survive alone," Zach said. "You have to fight alone for your graduation test, so you should be able to beat a vampire by yourself."

I stared at him blankly for a minute.

"What if the guy had been about to rip my neck out?" I asked. "Would you have just said, 'oh she needs to get used to it?'"

Zach laughed a little, "Of course not Ally, but I could see that you had it under control. If things had been getting out of hand, I would have helped out."

I turned away from him and looked at the dead bodies laid out in front of us.

"What do we do now?" I asked, slightly mollified.

Zach made a quick survey of the room; his eyes came to a rest on the bed the vampires lay on.

"Bed sheets," He said. "We'll roll them up in the bed sheets and move them to the car."

"No one will notice that we're carrying two dead bodies?" I scoffed.

Zach smiled a little, "Didn't you see the crowd? I would say about half of them are in danger of puking their brains out. They're all drunk."

I moved to the bed and began pulling the sheets up from the tucked corners.

"What about the person who sleeps in this room?" I asked while I covered the first vampire with one sheet. "Don't you think they'll notice the covers missing from their bed?"

As Zach helped me wrap, he responded, "They'll assume that some drunken partier stole them or something. People aren't exactly angels at these kinds of parties."

I finished the tie on the first vampire and rolled him off the bed, beginning to work on the sheet for the second vampire.

"How are we going to carry them down?" I asked.

"Vampires are surprisingly light, so it's quite easy to transport their dead bodies," Zach said. "You could probably carry these two down the stairs and to the car without breaking a sweat."

Once we finished up with the second vampire, we each grabbed a bundle and hoisted it over our shoulder.

"Ready?" Zach asked, pausing with his hand on the doorknob.

I nodded and shifted the dead vamp so that his bony hip wasn't pressing into my shoulder. As soon as the door opened, the pounding music filled the room again. Zach led the way, walking without pause straight down the stairs. As we moved past the people, no one stopped us. No one even gave us curious looks. They all just danced with each other and kept drinking, only pausing to glare at us when we accidently bumped into them. Every time this happened, Zach or I would mutter a "sorry" and continue our way towards the front door.

Before I knew it, we were outside again, heading towards our car a few houses down. When a voice called out from behind us, I froze, afraid that someone was not as drunk as we thought.

"Hey man, thanks for coming!" the voice said. I turned my head and saw that it was the blonde guy from earlier. I waved and Zach yelled back, "Yeah, see you later man."

Within a minute, we were tossing the two vamp bodies into the trunk and pulling out from the street. As soon as we had turned back onto the main road, Zach handed me a cell phone.

"Call the number labeled Constance," He said, keeping his eyes on the road. "Leave a message saying that mission 5534 is completed."

I did as he said. There was no message telling a person to leave a message after the tone; there was only a beep and then silence. After a slight pause, I repeated the words that Zach had told me to say and then hung up.

"What do we do with the bodies?" I asked, taking of my shoes off once more.

"We have methods of disposing them at the school," Zach said. "Most often, we burn them."

I stared straight ahead, surprised with this method. Now that I had thought of it, I had never seen slayer disposing of vampire bodies. I had never seen any fires underground either. They must have kept it well hidden.

"The vampire slayers inhabit a different area than the trainees," Zach said, as if reading my mind. "We take care in not letting the trainees see too much in case they are not cut out for the like of a slayer."

"So do you live there?" I asked. "With all the other slayers?"

Zach nodded, "I do. I currently am living alone. Most partners live together once they are official, but you understand why that will not be the case for you and me. At least, not for a while."

I nodded and remained silent for a while. Eventually, I would have to move out of my boarding house and move to where Zach lived. I didn't know if I was excited or scared at the prospect.

For the rest of the ride, we remained silent. Suddenly, I realized that I hadn't become nauseas after killing the vampire. I glanced over at Zach. He was solemnly concentrating on the road ahead. Had this partnership somehow changed my body? I looked straight ahead once more. Whatever it was, I was glad to no longer be hampered by bodily discomfort when killing vampires. Comforted by the constant thrum of the engine, I drifted off into a nap, tired by the excitement of the night.


	7. An Elegant Affair

**An Elegant Affair**

"Well it sounds like it's going pretty smoothly," Daia said, twirling her spoon in her coffee.

I nodded, "Training is going well, though it's still tough. And our first mission wasn't all that hard."

"Well that's good to hear," Daia said. "It seems like you guys are very quickly going to be the school's greatest asset."

"Maybe," I said, ducking my head to take a sip of my own cup of coffee.

"So no difficulties right?" she said. "I'm not going to lie; he probably makes my top 10 of sexiest men on this planet."

I laughed, "Oh no you too?"

She gave me a critical look, "Tell me you don't think he's attractive. I'll tell you you're blind."

I sighed, "Yes, he's attractive, not to mention one of the best slayers in the business."

"Quite the catch," Daia said with a smile. "So, nothing's happened huh?"

I flushed a bit.

"Nothing real," I said. "We had to pretend to be a couple, as we will probably have to do many times in the missions to come. It's a convenient cover."

A mischievous look had settled on Daia's face when I said "nothing real."

"So, what 'not real' has happened?"

I rolled my eyes, "He just pretended to kiss my neck on the stairs at the party."

"Hm, only pretended?" Daia said, seemingly disappointed.

I squinted at her, "He did kiss it once."

"Hah!" Daia said. "Wonderful. I think this is going to be a most entertaining partnership. Not to mention fun for you. Not every girl gets to be fake-romanced by a beautiful man on the regular."

"Mmm fake-romanced," I said. "It sounds so grand."

"Better than nothing or poorly-romanced," Daia said in a voice that suggested one or both of those situations had happened to her recently.

We were both quiet for a moment.

"Well I'm glad things are going well for you," Daia said with a genuine smile. "I do miss you in class though. There seems to be all the more boys now that there's one less girl."

"I miss you too, but I don't really miss class," I said. "I feel like I learn a lot more with Zach."

She nodded, "I wouldn't be surprised if they pushed up your graduation with how quickly things are happening for you. With a personal mentor, you have to be learning things triple the speed we are."

I felt a bit awkward, "I still don't understand why they picked me."

"It's pretty obvious you're the best in our class," Daia said, not in any way trying to flatter me. Daia had also always been in the top of the class. But in tests, I had generally edged out everyone for the top position.

"But it's not like the top student always gets a partner and no one else does," I said. "At least I don't remember that ever happening."

"It probably has to do with the hand thing you were talking about, with you two being perfect partners or whatever."

Involuntarily I looked down at my lineless palm. I shook my head.

"I don't think it'll ever make sense to me," I said with a little laugh.

"It doesn't have to make sense," Daia said. "It just has to work."

"Thank god you're at this school," I said. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"You would be late to getting ready for your second mission?" Daia said, coyly taking another sip of coffee.

I bolted up, "Crap. Thanks girl. See you later!"

Dusty laughed at me from my doorway.

"You're going to be wearing those things all night?" He asked, pointing at my three inch heels. "Good luck darling. I'm afraid you're going to have to be more worried about where you're stepping than who you're stabbing."

I grimaced at him, "Shut up Dusty. Just because you wouldn't be able to wear high heels and fight a vamp doesn't mean that I can't."

Dusty just kept snickering and the other boys smiled widely at me as well. I glared at all of them, waiting for them to leave.

"Well why are you all still here?" I said. "I have an hour to get ready. Shoo!"

Ricky stood up.

"We're only leaving if you show us what you look like before you leave," He said. "No more sneaking out before anyone can see you."

I looked at him incredulously, and then gave up.

"Okay, fine, just get out of my room!" I said.

The guys lumbered out of the room, muttering to each other and laughing. I slammed the door behind them and locked it. At this point, moving in with Zach would be a good thing. Even if I would have to tiptoe around corners to make sure I don't catch him in his boxers.

I walked into my bathroom, grabbing my makeup bag along the way. As I poked through the items there, I made decisions on how I would look tonight. I never used foundation, but I often used eyeliner and eye shadow. Taking a glance at the long slinky black dress laid out on my bed, I quickly chose a deep brown eye shadow and black eyeliner. After carefully applying each one, I applied a little mascara and stood back a little for the effect. I blinked at my reflection. I usually used makeup, but when it was applied so carefully and for the effect of looking sophisticated, it made me look prettier than usual.

I strode over to the bed and opened the bag containing the things Zach and I had bought a few days back. I pulled out the small boxes containing my earrings , necklace, and bracelet, all matching of course. I quickly removed the small studs I had in and carefully replaced them with my new earrings, ones that had a line of clear crystal that looked like diamonds. It hung delicately off my ear and draped down towards my shoulder.

Once I had both in, I turned my head side to side and admired the way they swayed with my movements. I can't even remember the last time I dressed up. Like, really dressed up. This was an exciting experience, and I was going to savor it.

I removed all my other jewelry and moved the new, delicate finery into its place. I pulled my hair up into a bun, securing it with bobby pins. I turned to my dress. It was the last piece in my transformation. It had taken forever to find a beautiful dress that would allow me to move enough to fight. While the fabric had a silky look and feel, it was as light as a feather. Since this was a formal event, the dress was unfortunately long.

While it was mostly black, there was a one-inch thick silver border that would go under the more noticeable part of my chest and then branch off to curve up to continue into my straps as well as reach around to my back. The silver border, after running over my shoulders, continued down my back into a scandalously low cut. There was also a scarf to drape over my shoulders and part of my back. I was really excited; this had to be the most beautiful, and expensive, piece of clothing I owned.

I knew I looked young, but with the makeup and dress, I looked a few years older, fit to be Zach's date to this gala we were attending.

I looked over at the clock and saw that I had fifteen minutes left. I carefully slid on the dress and my high heels, stopping before the mirror to make any last touches to my makeup. I took a deep breath, grabbed my clutch, and opened the door. I almost immediately groaned. George had been waiting outside my door as a look out.

"Hey, she's out," He called back to the other guys, keeping his eyes on me and smiling wolfishly.

I glared at him, "You have to be kidding me."

"Hey, you promised," George said.

I quickly started down the stairs in hopes that the other boys hadn't heard George and therefore weren't coming out of their rooms to see me. But I heard the footsteps behind me, and I quickened my pace.

"Where do you think you're going darling?" Came Dusty's voice from behind me.

Just as I was on the last few steps, I felt arms wrap around me and I was unceremoniously swept up into someone's arms. I looked up at the face and saw that my captor was James. As he continued down the stairs I clasped onto his neck, afraid he would let me go. I started grumbling about how my housemates were absolutely ridiculous.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs and had ventured a little into the room with the TV, James carefully set me down as the boys surrounded me. I decided to just stand there and bear it. Zach would be here to pick me up soon enough anyways. Why bother trying to get away when they were just going to surround me again.

Kevin whistled, "Damn Fronter, you clean up good." The other boys nodded in agreement.

I rolled my eyes and tugged my scarf closer, trying to cover up at least the upper half of me. It was so awkward to be ogled by your own roommates.

Ricky got down on one knee, "Ally, will you marry me?"

I laughed and bent close to him.

"No," I said. "Sorry to break your heart Ricky, but no."

The doorbell rang and I sighed in relief. I walked through the space between Ricky and George and headed towards the door. Suddenly, Daniel appeared on the stairs that led from the downstairs hallway. His eyes grew wide as soon as he saw me.

"Ally?" he said, looking a little shocked.

I muttered under my breath, "You know, this isn't doing anything for my self-confidence when I'm not dressed up."

When I reached the front door, I peered through the peep hole to make sure it was Zach, and then opened the door. We kind of just stood there for a minute staring at each other. I couldn't stop looking at him. I mean, I hadn't really thought that Zach could be any more handsome, but really. A suit and a bowtie completed the image. He looked like a millionaire boy toy, and I couldn't believe that I would have to stand next to him the whole night and try to keep my eyes off him and on the crowd, looking for our target.

An arm from behind me whirled me around. It was Daniel. His eyes roved up and down my body.

"Wow Ally, you look great," Daniel said. Just as I was about to deliver a witty response, I felt a warm hand against my back, directly on the skin left bare by my dress. Zach had moved next to me in the door way and was now coolly appraising Daniel. When Daniel saw how close Zach was to me, his gaze grew shuttered.

"So this is all for a mission," Daniel said, no longer sounding friendly. I nodded, my focus more on the hand at my back than on the tempered Daniel standing in front of me. We three stood there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Let's go," Zach whispered, exerting a slight pressure at my back, urging me to walk in front of him and then to go out the door on his other side. Which was strange when I could just turn around and walk straight out. Just as I was about to walk down the steps, Daniel called out to me.

"Ally, you forgot your purse," He said, holding it out in front of him. Just as Zach was about to reach for it, I turned back and grabbed it from him myself, but he didn't immediately let go. Pulling on the clutch, Daniel forced me to walk forward a step until we were less than a foot apart. He looked straight into my eyes.

"Be careful Ally," He said, glancing over my shoulder at Zach. "Take care of yourself." I nodded and was surprised by the quick kiss Daniel gave me. He then let go of my clutch and licked his lips, smiling.

"Strawberry, my favorite," He said, giving me a wink. I laughed and hit him in the shoulder for kissing me.

"Don't do it again or I might have to seriously beat you up," I said, turning away and walking to the door.

I suddenly noticed the long car outside of our house which I couldn't believe I had missed earlier. I looked back at Zach in disbelief.

"You rented a limo?" I asked. Zach shook his head, coming to a stop next to me on the sidewalk.

"The patrons of the school lend it to us when it is needed," He said, not letting on more.

I tried not to stare as the driver came around and opened the door for us, smiling as he waited for us to get into the car.

"Please, ladies first," Zach said, offering his hand to help me get in the limo. I smiled at him and took his hand. I carefully picked up my dress and tried to gracefully enter the limo. Once I found a comfortable seat in the back left corner, I took a look at the surroundings.

It must have been a very wealthy person's car, because it was extremely well-outfitted. All the seats were black leather, and there was a widescreen television sitting in the front, which was large, but not tall enough to cover the window between the driver and the back seats. There was a counter full of glasses and drinks; currently, the drinks were water and some juice and soda. As Zach settled in next to me and the door closed, I noticed some blankets and pillows on the seat next to me.

"What are those for?" I asked.

"So you can sleep since I know you had to wake up early for this," Zach said.

I looked at my cell phone for the time. No kidding, I had woken up at one to get in a chat with Daia before getting ready for this mission. That was quite a couple of hours before I usually woke up, but it was necessary to make the five-hour drive.

"We also have a few movies we can watch on our way so we don't get bored," Zach said, waiting for me to respond. I smiled and nodded at him, glad that I had brought makeup to touch-up my face once we had gotten there.

"Okay, what movie would you like to see?" Zach asked, moving up front to the television. I leaned back into the seat and relaxed.

"I don't know." I said. "Let's watch something funny."

As Zach began looking through the pile of DVDs for a comedy, I selected one of the blankets Zach had brought and tugged it over my body, beginning to feel the chill of the air conditioner that had been on before the car was turned off. The engine rumbled to life and Zach placed a DVD in the player and came to sit next to me again.

"Ready sir?" The driver called back.

"Ready," Zach said back and then closed the window between the driver and our own section.

As the opening credits began, I turned to Zach.

"So is the driver a real person or does he know?" I asked quietly.

"He was probably a slayer who was injured," Zach said. "The easiest way for people like him to be involved and to stay with the school is doing jobs like this."

I looked back to the front of the limo. It must be hard to be unable to fight against what you think is wrong.

"Is that what will happen to us when we're old and can't fight anymore?" I asked.

Zach gave me a sad smile, "Hopefully, if we are not killed first."

I tried to concentrate on the movie that was playing, glad for a comedic interlude in our serious conversation. But as the movie progressed, and the car settled into a continuous speed, I began to feel my eyelids grow heavy and my body sink further into the limo's cushions. The voices of the people in the movie and the thrum of the car and my steady breathing all blended together in a well-put together lullaby that tempted my eyes to close and my body to turn slack.

After I had closed my eyes for a few minutes, Zack reached over and held my hand. I peeked at him; he was watching me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, lifting my head again. Zach bent closer to me and smiled his adorable smile.

"I'm holding your hand," He said.

"Yes," I said. "You are, but why?"

Zach chose not to respond, but to instead lift my hand to his mouth and kiss it, keeping his beautiful blue eyes on me the whole time. I heard myself emit a small giggle. Zach frowned at this.

"You're not supposed to laugh when I try to charm you," Zach said. "Perhaps I should try a different method." I immediately stopped smiling when he wrapped his arm around my back and pulled me to him so that I very nearly sat on his lap.

"I see," Zach says, his eyes concentrating on my mouth. "This is the perfect way to keep you taking me seriously."

"We shouldn't be doing this," I said, even as my own arms wrapped around his neck. "There's that hetero-partner clause thing that we have to worry about."

Zach bent forward and began kissing my neck. Amid his kisses his whispered things to me.

"I can't seem to remember what that clause said," Zach whispered. "Can you remember?"

I swallowed hard as Zach made his way toward my mouth, "Uhm, no. Not particularly."

Zach chuckled and finally began to kiss me. It felt so shameful and wonderful at the same time. If the council members were ever to find out, I would be assigned to a new partner, and that would be horrible. I was just beginning to figure out why.

Zach's hand was slipping down my back, tracing the outline of the cut of my dress. His other hand gently cupped my face as he continued to kiss me. Just as I opened my mouth to let his tongue slip in, the limo hit a particularly large speed bump and I woke up.

"Ally?" Came Zach's smooth voice. His hands weren't on me. I wasn't draped all over him. It was all just a dream. When I realized I had been lying on Zach's shoulder, I blushed and sat up straight.

"Wow, I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to doze off on you."

Zack smiled, "It's fine. You're quite amusing when you sleep."

I blanched. Had I said anything in my sleep to reveal what I had been dreaming about?

"What did I do?" I asked cautiously, hoping that it was nothing bad. Zach watched me for a second, as if calculating to see whether he should tell me what I had done. He eventually turned back to the television, where a different film was playing.

"You just mumbled a bit," He said. "That's all." I knew he wasn't telling me everything, but whatever. If he wasn't awkward with me right now, then he couldn't know what I had really been dreaming about, so it had to be fine.

I yawned, still recovering from my nap, "How far away are we?"

Zach looked out the window, and I realized that it had grown darker. Several hours must have past. How strange; I felt like I had only fallen asleep for a few minutes.

"We're about twenty minutes away," Zach said.

I pulled out my make-up bag and began making touch-ups. In less than two minutes, all smudges were gone and there was no evidence that I had slept for four hours. I began noticing that the buildings outside were getting larger and larger and there were more and more people walking the streets we passed.

"It's just another block or two away," Zach said. "Are you ready?"

I smiled and nodded at him, "Ready."

When the limo pulled up, someone opened the door and Zach got out. He turned around and offered his hand once more to help me get out. Once we were both standing outside of the car, we looked to the large building that we would be entering in a minute. It was large, full of light, and looked as though it was completely made of glass.

Zach offered me his arm and I took it, taking care not to grasp him too hard.

"We are business partners," Zach said. "We will ask Mr. Forester if we can talk with him in private about a business opportunity that we have to offer. He will hopefully agree and we will be able to get him off by himself."

"And then we finish him," I added quietly. Zach nodded and we made our way to the line to get inside. Most of the people in line were chatting amiably with each other. They all had probably attended the same types of parties over and over and so all knew each other.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop but since Zach and I were silent I couldn't help overhearing the people's conversations around me. And they were all so unbelievably polite.

"That's wonderful!" The lady in front of me said. "And how is your daughter, Virginia? I hope she is doing well."

The lady to whom she was speaking replied in the same way, "Oh, she is doing wonderfully. She just moved into a new house with her husband and they are expecting a child in the early summer."

The first lady oohed and ahhhed over Virginia's well-being and I stopped listening to their conversation. I was sure that the conversation would then progress on to how elegant lady number two's other children were doing, and then continue on to elegant lady number one's children. Once that topic was complete, they would likely move on to their grandchildren.

Maybe I was just a pessimist, but it seemed like the world operated on polite nothings. I may ask about your grandchildren which gives the appearance that I care, but do I really? All matters would be settled more quickly if people could simply get to the point. I believe that Zach sees the world in this way as well, since neither he nor I made any attempt to start a conversation. I simply pasted a pleasant smile on my face and held onto Zach's arm and waited patiently as we neared the front of the line.

Once the chatty ladies in front of us were admitted, I watched them go with a smile, pondering how interesting it was that they left each other's company as soon as they entered the doors. I guess they didn't really care to continue their conversation on the accomplishments and well-being of their children.

"Your names please," The woman holding the guest list said. Zach spoke up immediately.

"Darren Wains and Patricia Down," He said. The lady scoured the list carefully, highlighting my alias when she came to it, and then flipped to the end of the packet to highlight Zach's fake name. When she finished, she looked back up at us and broke into the fakest smile I've seen anyone give.

"Welcome," She said, and then quickly looked past us to bark, "Next!"

Once we had walked a few paces inside, I couldn't help it any longer; I giggled. Zach looked at me, alarmed.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"You would think that the wealthy would be able to find employees that didn't so obviously hate them." I said, laughing once more. "I swear that lady looked like she would like to open fire on all of us with a machine gun."

Zach graced me with one of his smiles before returning his gaze to the scattered groups of affluent peoples standing all around us in the room.

"Let's find him quickly so that we will be able to make our move at the opportune moment," Zach said, leading me toward the refreshment table.

While I was surveying the room, I caught sight of one of my favorite snacks in someone's hand: mini quiches. I let Zach know that I was off to grab one or two from the refreshments table; he gave me a disapproving look but let me go. I made my way through the crowd and arrived quickly at the table. I picked up a napkin and placed two cheese and spinach quiches in the center of it. Just as I was reaching for a glass of punch, I felt a pair of eyes upon me. I looked up and was stunned to look into the handsome face of our target. When our eyes met, he smiled.

"Well hello there," He said, sounding like an adult man greeting a small child. "I must say, you are one of the more exquisite looking females in the room tonight. Have you found the party to your liking?"

I quickly forced the words out of my mouth for fear of him suspecting something to be wrong.

"Thank you sir," I said, adding a shy smile. "I have enjoyed myself so far, but I must admit that I have only been here a short while."

At my response, his grin grew even wider, and I was reminded of a cat hunting a mouse.

"It would be my great pleasure to escort you around for the evening if you find yourself lacking in entertainment," He said. Then I felt Zach's presence behind me. A quick glance back confirmed it was him and I returned my attention to Jeremiah.

"Thank you for the offer," I said. "But I do have a date and I would hate to leave him alone for the night when he invited me."

"Well, that's just too bad," He said. "Just say the words, and I will dispose of him for you." A statement that would seem like a flirtatious jest to anyone who did know what he really was.

I instantly felt the urge to scowl at the man and plunge a stake in his heart. Instead, I smiled.

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," I said. "Have a good night sir."

Just before I turned around, I saw him nod and salute me with two fingers like a sailor. I tried to keep my walk normal as I approached Zach, who was about five feet behind me, pretending to be a part of a noisy group.

"That was probably unwise," Zach said, still scanning the crowd although he now knew where our target was.

"It was an accident," I said. "It's not as if I called out his name and he came running and I told him that we were planning to kill him."

Zach glanced quickly around him. I sighed and realized another one of my mistakes. I probably should not have been talking like that in public; anyone could have heard, ruining our chance to kill the target.

"Well, what's done is done," Zach said. "I will just have to approach him and you will be friendly with him since you have obviously already met. But since he has taken a liking to you, it will be less likely that he will like me."

I laughed, "What, jealousy works on vampires too?"

"They're like men, just with fangs," Zach said. "They lust for things they cannot have, just as men do." And as he said it, he looked directly into my eyes, serious as ever. I felt uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation and looked away.

"So when will we approach him?" I asked.

"Soon," He said. "I would like to get this over with and be on our way home."

I laughed, "What happened to 'patience is key, my young grasshopper'?"

Zach smiled and shook his head, "I just don't like that you two are now know each other and that he likes you. He may do something foolish to get your attention for the night or a date in the future. Something foolish that would bring attention to us when we don't want it."

"Ah I see," I said, doubting that a wealthy man would spend his time manufacturing a plan to lure me into a date.

When he heard the sarcasm in my voice, Zach gave me an amused look.

"You know, they say that a human's blood tastes better if you are attracted to the human," Zach said. "He may be plotting your demise right at this second."

I sighed; Zach had already bestowed this information on me. He was just reminding me to frighten me, but it wasn't going to work.

"If he tries to eat me, I'll feed him my stake," I said, smiling sweetly at him. "Does that work?"

Zach grinned, nodded and then looked back up into the crowd to find our target. His grin disappeared. I followed his gaze to see what he was seeing.

"What's the matter?" I asked when I didn't see what had made him frown.

He put his hand on my lower back and began gently pushing me through the crowd.

"Your friend has just gone off to the bathroom," Zach said. "Now would be the time to ask him to review our business plan."

I nodded and allowed Zach to continue propelling me towards the bathroom and the private offices. I stuffed my last quiche into my mouth and chewed quickly, savoring its taste before the battle that was about to ensue. I swallowed and threw down the last of my punch, leaving the glass on a table that we passed by. Soon, we were by the bathrooms. Zach situated us next to a potted plant about six or seven feet from the bathrooms. A minute later, Jeremiah came out.

"Mr. Forester!" Zach called out with a grin. "Just the man I wanted to see!"

Jeremiah came to a stop before us and smiled at me, "Well hello again." Then he turned to Zach with a slight frown on his face.

"So this is the date, is it?" He asked.

"He's my business partner," I said quickly, seeing the green monster settling in. How ridiculous men were sometimes.

Jeremiah nodded and his expression relaxed to the carefree grin he had given me earlier.

"So what is it you wanted to see me about?" He asked, turning his attention to Zach.

"We are actually very interested in speaking to you about a possible source of profit for your company," Zach said. "Of course, if we were to discuss this further, we would appreciate a place of privacy so that we can further concentrate on the matter at hand."

Jeremiah stayed silent for a moment, looking Zach straight in the eyes. Zach did not waver and returned his stare with a cordial smile on this face. Finally, Jeremiah broke off the intense staring contest and looked at me.

"Very well, let's hear it," he said. "After all, any opportunity to work with this little angel should be worth it."

I forced myself to laugh at his flirtation.

"Please, this way," he said before placing his hand on my back where Zach's hand had rested earlier. I couldn't prevent myself from flinching in repulsion. Jeremiah snatched his hand back and Zach gave me a warning look.

"Sorry," I said quickly. "It's just that your hand was cold and it surprised me."

"No, no," Jeremiah said, his smile back. "It is I who should apologize. After washing my hands they tend to get cold. I simply forgot. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "It's perfectly fine." But of course I knew he was lying, although he probably really had forgotten that his hands were cold. It was a well-known fact that vampires run many degrees colder than humans because in truth, their bodies no longer operate to keep them warm.

Jeremiah led us down the hallway and into an office. He made his way to his desk and sat down while I closed the door and discreetly locked it.

"So, let's hear this business proposition you have for me, shall we?" Jeremiah asked, settling into his seat.

"Yes of course," Zach said. "First off, I would like to thank you for giving us the time of day to hear our proposal."

Jeremiah nodded and boringly waved his hand for Zach to continue, "Please just get to the point."

Zach paused for a second and gave me a look that told me to get closer to Jeremiah. I smiled at Jeremiah and walked over to him, slipping my stake from my clutch.

"Let me ask you Mr. Forester," I said, trying to appear coy and sexy and all those things men like. "What is it that your company does best?"

Jeremiah gave me a smug smile as his eyes moved down my body, "We design the most modern buildings in the country."

"Yes, you do," I said, stopping to his right and leaning my bottom against his desk while I looked down at him. "And we have come here to offer you a chance of a lifetime: to be the most modern and well-known architect in the world." As I spoke I slid even closer to him until my legs were almost touching his.

Jeremiah cocked his head slightly to the side, "I am liking the sound of this. Please, do tell me more."

I looked back confidently at Zach, who nodded, seemingly pleased with the story I had spun so far.

"Well, we have come to you with an offer that will please you immensely," I said.

Jeremiah chuckled a little, "I'm sure that no matter what you say, I will be able to think of a few things that would please me more." With that said, he stroked my leg behind the desk, where Zach couldn't see. I felt a blush coming on and I willed with all my might for it to disappear.

"As you know, Germany has been chosen to host the Olympics in eight years," Zach said, taking over my place in the conversation. "They have seen your designs and enjoyed them greatly, and would like you to build them a new stadium just for the Olympic events."

As a shocked expression fell over Jeremiah's face, I slipped my stake from the folds of my dress and moved it to my right hand. I immediately made to thrust the stake deep into Jeremiah's heart but somehow he saw my movements even when his attention was on Zach. He sprung away before I could strike and an even greater expression of shock slid over his face. It was quickly replaced with a livid look of hatred.

"Vampire slayers," He spat at us. "How dare you try and trick me like this. You shall pay dearly for this." He charged at me, getting his hands around my throat before I could even blink my eyes. I pulled my knee up hard into his groin and he groaned but did not relinquish his hold on me. I began to see stars as he continued to squeeze harder and harder, unfazed by my attempted attack on him.

Suddenly the hands released my neck and I gasped heavily for oxygen, feeling my legs collapse under me. I looked over from my position on the floor, seeing that Zach had tackled the vampire by leaping over the desk and shoving him into the wall. With a few deep breaths, I had recovered and was back on my feet.

Zach no longer had his stake in his hands and so was grappling with Jeremiah, who had now revealed his teeth and showed them off by trying to take a bite out of Zach. Just as Jeremiah got the upper hand and had pinned Zach against the wall, I grabbed a huge dictionary and swung it full force at Jeremiah's head. He let out a blood-curdling scream and let go of Zach. He now turned on me.

"You minx!" He screamed and ran full force towards me, covering the five feet between us in the blink of an eye. Without thinking, I pulled the same trick I had with the vampire on the training grounds at school. Just as the vampire was about to sink his teeth into my shoulder, we all heard the splinter of his ribcage as the stake plunged straight through to his heart. The speed that Jeremiah had put on was more than enough to help my stake break past his body's natural barriers. So basically, he killed himself by running at me.

"That has to be the most useful move I know," I said as Jeremiah's body slipped to the floor.

Zach gazed stonily at Jeremiah's still body, "It certainly has served you well."

I stayed quiet for a moment, taking the time to catch my breath. I began to look around for things to cover up Jeremiah's body with. Zach took notice of my search and offered up a method of disposal.

"There's a trash chute a few doors down the hallway," He said. "We'll just shove him down that and meet him at the bottom where we'll be able to cart him away without suspicion."

"Sounds good," I said.

I found the clutch that I had dropped during the fight while Zach hefted Jeremiah's body onto his shoulder. I unlocked and opened the door of the office, looking down the hallway to make sure no one was there. Since the hallway was empty I gestured for Zach to follow me out the door. He quickly made it to the trash chute and let Jeremiah's body slide down it.

"It most likely leads down to the basement," Zach said, walking over to a sign that had arrows pointing to where different things were. "We just need to find an elevator."

I looked over to my right, "Or what about stairs?"

Zach followed my gaze to the sign for the fire escape stairwell. He nodded.

"That would work too," He said, walking over to it and opening the door. We quickly descended until we came to the lowest level which had a door titled "BS." We carefully opened the door, checking to make sure that no janitors or other people were hanging around. When we confirmed that there was no one, we slipped through the door and began checking rooms, looking for the one that all the trash fell into.

Finally, I found one that looked like a garage. As I inspected it, I left the lights off. It contained a couple of those huge trash containers and a large chute was right feeding into one of them. I crept forward and inspected the one just under the chute and immediately saw the body of our dead target. I sighed in relief; we had found him before anyone else. I walked back to the door and saw Zach down the hall about to open another room. I tapped the ground once hard to get his attention and beckoned him to come to me.

Soon we had Jeremiah out of the trash container and into a dirty sheet that I had found in a corner. When Zach was about to put him over his shoulder again, I heard something: the slight tapping of shoes and the creak of wheels on the cement floor.

"Someone's coming," I whispered.

Zach immediately sprung into action. He put his hands around my waist and lifted me up onto the small counter that was there. Then he slid my long dress up to my knees and left one hand resting on my leg while the other reached around my back to my head.

"The janitors won't stand around to watch a couple make out," Zach said. I only had a millisecond before lips descended on me.

I thought that perhaps I had hit my head while we were fighting Jeremiah and now I was dreaming again. It seemed so surreal to be in this position. But I could feel the cold counter beneath me and I knew it was real.

For the sake of our appearance, or so I told myself, I wrapped my arms around Zach's neck and began kissing him back. He took my legs and wrapped them around him, making our embrace even more intimate. I heard the footsteps grow louder and pulled Zach closer to me, pressing myself against him. His kiss was not gentle or careful; it was wild, just as a couple that had snuck downstairs to be alone would be. While our tongues entwined, I felt his hand creep up even further along my thigh.

I heard the stop of footsteps and the grumbling of an old man who wouldn't be able to finish his rounds on time tonight because there was some rich carefree riff-raff making out in his trash room. While I suppressed the urge to laugh, I placed my hand over Zach's and helped guide it up further. I knew now that the janitor would be able to see a good part of my leg and hopefully, he would want to leave before it got more serious.

The footsteps began again but we continued to make out in case he decided to some back. After a minute of running my fingers through his hair and kissing him as I never would again, Zach and I pulled away from each other. We were both breathing heavily and avoiding each other's eyes. I tugged down my dress and slid off the counter. I checked to make sure that Zack's fingers in my hair had not made me look like a wild-woman.

"Right well," I said slowly, unsure of how to proceed. "What do we do now?"

Zach pointed to a door I had not noticed earlier that was in the darkest corner of the room.

"That door leads outside," He said. "We'll just call our driver and ask him to meet us around back so that we don't have to show everyone the body."

"Okay," I said. "Do you have a phone to call him with?"

Zach nodded, pulled a phone from his pocket and dialed a number. After a pause, the driver picked up the phone.

"Yes Randy," Zach said. "Could you please pick us up around the back? We have some baggage that we don't want to carry to the front."

After Randy's response, which I couldn't hear, Zach murmured his thanks and hung up the phone.

He bent down and hefted the former Mr. Forester onto his shoulder. I saw him crinkle his nose as he settled the dead vamp on his shoulder. I quickly went to open the door for him and stood outside as he came through. I looked around; it appeared to just be more parking spaces behind the building.

"How will Rogers know how to get here?" I asked, still avoiding Zach's eyes.

"I gave him a layout of the building before we left," Zach said. "He's had plenty of time to study it. This is the only place someone can get out of the building from the back."

I nodded and let the door shut quietly. As we waited for the sound of an engine, a thoroughly awkward silence descended between us. He stared at an imaginary spot far off in the distance. I picked nonexistent dirt from under my fingernails. Mr. Forester remained an inanimate lump, still perched on Zach's shoulder.

Zach cleared his throat. I chanced a look at him. He had picked a different spot to stare at. I pursed my lips. We were eventually going to have to say something to each other. I chewed on my lip a second longer before opening my mouth to begin a conversation.

"You did a good job," Zach said, effectively cutting me off.

He still wasn't looking at me.

"Uh, thanks," I said. "You weren't so bad yourself."

At that, he smiled.

"I think you'll be ready for graduation in no time, Ally," Zach said. "You should be very proud of yourself."

I sighed, "If I had a mom or dad, I think they would sound just like you right now."

I felt his gaze on me.

"What happened to them?" He asked softly. I turned my head in the opposite direction, not wanting him to see my face.

"Nothing good," I said, careful not to let my voice shake.

"It's okay," Zach said. "We don't have to talk about it now." But his tone of voice let me know that we would talk about it eventually.

The purr of an engine and the shine of twin headlights came around the corner and Zach and I stood up straight, ready to get in. The car parked in front of us and Randy leapt out of the driver's seat to rush to the trunk and open it.

"Well done!" He said with a huge smile. "And you're both so young! The academy is doing wonders nowadays."

"Thank you Randy," Zach said. "Please take us home now."

Randy nodded, "Of course.

He shut the trunk and opened the passenger door for us to get in. I smiled at him.

"Thank you Randy," I said. "We really appreciate your help."

He grinned back at me, "And thank you both for making this world a better place."

I laughed, "It's no trouble at all."

I quickly slid into the limo and waited as Zach came in next to me and Randy took his place in the driver's seat. Before long, we were back on the main road with overhead light passing by, serving as the only illumination. After a silent half hour, I noticed the lights began to dwindle until the only light we encountered were from the small towns we passed by. I finally looked over at Zach and noticed that he was dozing off. I smiled and carefully pulled a blanket over him. It could get really cold in Pennsylvania at night.

After watching him sleep for a minute, I popped a different DVD into the media player and settled myself on the seat that was perpendicular to the one Zach was sleeping on. For the next four and a half hours I fell into a strange stupor. While my eyes watched the television, my brain just whirred and grinded, keeping me awake. It wasn't until the limousine had actually stopped that I realized the television had gone dark and Zach was silently watching me.

"We're back," He said quietly.


	8. A Welcome Back

**A Welcome Back**

"Congratulations on your first two missions Miss Fronter," the head councilmen said. "We are very pleased with your performance."

"Thank you sir," I said quietly. He cleared his throat.

"We have called you here to ask how you think you and Zachariah are faring as partners," He said.

I nodded and waited for him to continue.

"So," He began. "Do you like having Zachariah as your partner?"

"Yes, sir," I said.

"Do you believe that he has taught you new methods of fighting and has added greatly to your education?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you believe that if you continue to be partners, you will have a long and successful partnership?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you believe that having a man as your partner gives you advantages and flexibility to be assigned to missions?"

If only he knew, I thought to myself.

"Yes, sir."

Now he paused again. I waited for his next question.

"Is there any reason why Zachariah would not be a suitable permanent partner for you?" He asked slowly.

"No, sir," I said. "I am very grateful to be assigned to a partner with so much experience and ability."

The head councilman smiled at me, "Yes, you have a great partner indeed. He is one of the most treasured slayers on campus. Thank you for your answers, Ally. Please send Zachariah in now."

I nodded and left the room. Zach was waiting outside.

"It's your turn," I said quietly.

He nodded and gave me a gentle smile as he entered the room. As the door slid shut, I immediately began to wonder how he would answer the questions, whether he thought there was any reason why we shouldn't be partners. I mulled over the past two months and thought of any mistakes I had made that could have possibly offended Zach in any way.

Maybe I hadn't been quick enough to learn staff fighting. Or maybe I just wasn't a good partner. Maybe I fell asleep during the end of a mission too much! I felt my hands begin to grow sweaty as the minutes passed by. Why was he taking so long? I began jiggling my foot as I waited for the door to slide open and for Zach to emerge and announce that I would be assigned to a new partner. Then he would be assigned another partner, one who was older and more experienced and—

The door glided open. I stopped breathing. Nothing happened.

"Ally, please come in," I heard the head councilman say from inside. I immediately obeyed. I as I walked to where Zach was standing, I could see his face as they all waited for me to reach them. It was expressionless.

"Sir?" I said.

"I would just like to thank you both for coming in today," He said. "I am very interested in seeing this partnership progress and succeed. I simply ask you to both attend the missions meeting in three days."

I felt all the oxygen return to my brain as I allowed my body to breathe again. We were going to stay partners.

"Oh and Ally," the councilman added. "Your graduation test has been moved up to three months from this date. Continue to work hard and improve, and it may come even sooner."

I practically jumped with joy.

"Oh thank you sir!" I gushed. "I really appreciate this."

He chuckled, "So anxious to leave us are we?"

"Oh no sir," I said, trying to calm myself. "I have just wanted to be a fully-trained slayer my whole life and you have just made it closer to coming true than I had ever thought."

He laughed again.

"I'm glad I could help," He said. "You are both dismissed."

We nodded respectfully to him and left the room. I immediately began bouncing up and down.

"Oh my gosh only three months until I graduate!" I said. "This is so exciting."

Zach only gave me an amused smile, "Don't be celebrating yet. Your graduation test isn't that easy. Some don't succeed and have to try again."

"Did you succeed on yours?" I asked.

"I currently hold the record score," He said quietly. "But don't let that trick you into thinking the test is a piece of cake."

A silence fell between us as I followed him silently down the halls en route to my boarding house.

"So from now until my graduation, are we just taking on more missions?" I asked.

"We will only be taking one mission a week and your training will be intensified," Zach said.

I inwardly groaned as my muscles remembered the soreness from our past training.

"We will also practice more solo skills since you must finish your graduation test by yourself," Zach said. "I will, of course, be nearby while you work but I am restricted to watching unless you are in grave danger, in which case I would jump in and help you."

"I am also the one who will report whether or not you are proficient enough to become a true slayer or not," he added.

"But if you're my partner wouldn't you be biased?" I asked. "Couldn't you just lie and say that I was proficient when I really wasn't?"

"The council depends on us to be honest with them," Zach said. "In turn, they are honest with us. And we would never want to send an unprepared slayer on missions they wouldn't be able to handle. Our numbers are small as it is. We wouldn't want to needlessly waste slayers."

"I see," I said. The rest of our walk remained completely silent, and I realized that I had actually become proficient at walking like a cat. There was almost no sound in the hallway at all. And I hadn't even had to think about it. I felt a smile creep across my face. It was amazing how much Zach had managed to improve me in such a short amount of time.

With all of my concentration guided inwards, I couldn't stop myself from bumping into Zach when he stopped. We both let out a soft "oomph" and Zach's hand grabbed my wrist to keep me from falling.

"Sorry," I said immediately. "I wasn't paying attention."

Zach chuckled, "Obviously. Maybe I ought to start randomly attacking you to see if you're here or in the clouds."

I grinned at that.

"I would welcome that," I said. "It'll keep me sharp."

"And I'll enjoy the challenge," Zach said. Realizing he was still holding my wrist, he quickly let go.

"I will see you tomorrow evening at our training room," Zach said, already beginning to move away. "No later than eight o'clock."

"See you then," I said, watching as he disappeared swiftly down the hall. I let myself into the boardinghouse and walked upstairs to the main floor. As soon as I reached the top stair, I froze. Something was wrong.

No lights were turned on and it was completely silent. It was only eleven o'clock, so everyone should have been wide awake and walking around. I dropped to a crouch as I assessed the situation. The boys didn't have any plans for tonight, so they couldn't have just all left. What was going on?

I closed my eyes and listened intently for any sounds. For a minute, I could hear nothing but my beating heart. Then, I heard a creak of weight on wood coming from in front of me. My eyes flew open and my hand immediately jumped down to the pocket where my stake should have been, but it was empty since Zach still wouldn't let me have a stake unless we were on a mission.

The only place anyone could hide from me that was directly in front of me would be in our coat closet. I walked forward with care, making sure I made no sound. I let my hand rest on the doorknob for a second while I took in a breath. I let it out and whipped the door open, pulling my fist back up at the same time so I could punch anything inside the closet.

"Whaaa—" the something inside the closet yelled as it fell backwards and landed on top of me. We both toppled to the ground but I managed to get my arm around his neck.

"How did you get in my house?" I yelled. "Where are my friends?"

"Uhh, Ally?" said another voice coming from the closet.

I looked up. It was James. I looked down at the person I had in a headlock. It was Daniel.

"Oh my gosh," I said, immediately releasing him. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to attack you! I thought something had happened. I mean, all the lights were off and…why were you guys in the closet together anyways?"

James laughed, "We were getting ready to come out."

"Yeah right," I said. "I know how much you like girls. The posters in your bedroom can attest to that."

"Good god woman," Daniel croaked, rubbing his sore neck. "Who did you think I was?"

"I don't know," I said. "Someone who wasn't supposed to be here."

"I think I need some ice or something," Daniel said, coughing a little.

"Was my grip that hard?" I asked, delighted that I was stronger than I thought.

He gave me a weird look, "Is there a reason why you are happy I'm in pain?"

I laughed, "Sorry, I'm really sad that you got hurt. It's just I'm glad to know that I can overpower someone bigger than me!"

He arched an eyebrow.

"To be fair," Daniel said. "You caught me by surprise and I landed on you in a way that would make it easy for you to overpower me."

"That's true I guess," I said. "Maybe we ought to spar some time and see who is better."

Daniel grinned, "That sounds like an intriguing challenge. We'll have to make a date for it."

I smiled at him. It was the least I could do for him after attacking him.

"So why were you really in the closet?" I asked.

"Oh, right," James said. He yelled, "She's heeeere."

Suddenly, lights flashed on and boys began jumping out of hiding spaces.

"Surprise!" They yelled.

My mouth dropped open. They were having a surprise party for me?

"Congrats on your first two missions Ally!" Someone yelled.

There were quite a number of people there considering that I didn't know many people at the school. The six other girls that went to the school had also come. I didn't particularly relish that fact since I knew some of them would plague me with questions about Zach. Chloe and Daia certainly wouldn't. But I knew Shelley and Rena would.

When I saw them, I tried to hide behind boys like Daniel just so that I wouldn't have to launch into talk about why I refused to discuss how hot Zach is or how much I enjoy working with him. I just really wasn't feeling like it.

"Who do you keep hiding from?" Daniel asked after I had stuck to his side for a while and continuously looked around to make sure no girls were around.

"Oh you know, the girls," I said, sipping some of the punch the boys had brought.

He laughed, "Now why would you be hiding from them?"

I blushed.

"Well, they keep asking questions about my partner," I said. "And I just don't feel like talking about him with girls he doesn't even know."

His smile dimmed a bit, "Oh, I see."

"We probably should have invited him huh?" Daniel said. "At least it would have kept the girls off you."

I laughed, "It would have definitely kept the girls off me. But its fine. I'll just deal with it. Thanks for helping me avoid them though."

"You're very welcome," Daniel said.

After an hour or two, people began saying their goodbyes until there was only me, my housemates, and Daniel left.

"You guys want to watch a movie or play video games or something?" I asked, knowing that they would say yes.

"Video games first, then a movie," Dusty said, launching himself onto the couch to get the best spot.

Daniel and I were left with the loveseat as the boys grappled for the choice spot on the lazy boy couch. We both sat down without complaint and watched as the boys collaborated to heave Dusty onto the ground and quickly take over his seat. After five minutes of shoving and relocating, the boys had all found comfortable places and the Xbox was turned on.

After we went through a few games and took turns virtually racing each other or pummeling each other, it was four o' clock in the morning and it was decided that we would watch the movie now. I let the boys choose some action flick and I settled into the back of the small couch. Daniel's arm, which had been oh so casually resting behind me along the back of couch, now slipped down around my shoulders.

I was too sleepy and content to care really, so I let it sit there. About an hour into the movie, I felt myself begin to nod off, and Daniel pulled me closer so that my head rested more comfortably on him. It was probably his shoulder or chest or something. As I drifted into sleep, I found that I didn't really care.


	9. Back to Business

**Back To Business**

Hours later, my eyes fluttered open again. My head was on a pillow, and there was something warm underneath me. I put my hand down and used it to lift myself up. Daniel was still here, and he was sleeping with a cute little smile on his lips. I looked down and realized my hand was on his leg. I quickly removed it. As I surveyed the room, I noted all the other boys sprawled across the room, some snoring, some not. I smiled to myself. The ending of the movie must have been pretty boring for everyone to have fallen asleep.

Since I had been curled up the whole night with my head on Daniel's lap, I could feel numerous kinks in my body. I immediately regretted the decision of not sleeping in a bed, especially on a day when I would have to do some intense training. I got up and began stretching out my body. I heard Daniel begin to stir.

"Good morning, sunshine," He said, smiling as he saw me up.

"I would think it would be more like 'good evening, moon,'" I said, laughing.

He grinned at me, "Sunshine fits you better I think. After all, the sunshine is the enemy of vampires, not the moon."

I laughed again.

"You have a point there," I said.

I looked at the clock next to the staircase. It was almost six o'clock. I could take a shower, get dressed and eat breakfast within an hour and then be on my way to school and get there early.

"I'm going to go take a shower," I said.

"Was that an invitation?" Daniel asked.

"You know it wasn't," I said, already making my way to the staircase.

"But how my heart wishes that it was," Daniel said, smiling at me.

I laughed at him, "You wouldn't know what do to if I told you that I wanted to take a shower with you."

He raised an eyebrow, "You want to test that theory?"

"Not incredibly," I said. "Besides, I'm still a minor, so you would get in trouble." Daniel was nineteen.

"Oh but if anything happened, you wouldn't want to tell on me, sweetheart," He said, giving me a confident grin.

I wiggled my fingers in a wave and went up to my bathroom. After my shower and a change of clothes, I was feeling much refreshed. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail and donned a pair of tennis shoes before going back downstairs.

"Hey man, I didn't know you could cook," came George's voice as I descended the stairs.

As a strong familiar smell wafted towards me and I realized someone had decided to cook us a real breakfast. I walked to the kitchen and found all of my boys sitting around the table and digging into scrambled eggs, pancakes, toast, and orange juice.

"How did you find the stuff to make all this?" I asked. As far as I knew we hadn't had any of the things he had made anywhere in our house.

"Hey Ally," Daniel said, smiling. "I ran over to my place to get some. I figured you guys would like a good breakfast every once in a while. Besides, I had to keep myself busy otherwise I might have been tempted to do things I shouldn't."

No one was really paying attention to us so they didn't notice the innuendo in Daniel's words. I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed a piece of toast and a paper towel.

"See you guys later," I said. "I'm off to training."

"You can't take five minutes to sit down and eat with us?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah Ally," Daniel said. "Why don't you sit down and relax for a few minutes."

As all the boys echoed requests of me to stay, I looked at the clock again. It was seven now, so I could probably lounge for at least five minutes.

"Okay," I said, slipping into the last seat at the large table.

James pushed over his plate so that I could eat some of his eggs and pancakes. As jokes and banter were exchanged over the table, I munched lightly. I made sure not to eat too much since I knew it could quickly become a problem during training.

"Hey Daniel," James said. "You're a fun guy. You ought to move in here once Ally is gone."

I laughed, "You're thinking awful far ahead. I'm not going to be leaving for another three or maybe even longer."

Dusty cocked his head, "But the head of housing sent us a notice to start looking for another housemate since you'll be gone in a month."

I noticed the smile slip from Daniel's face.

"That's right," Daniel said. "After three months with a partner, they move in together."

"You'd think they'd make an exception for you guys, but guess not huh?" Ricky said.

"Guess not," I said. When my eyes wandered a bit, they caught sight of the microwave clock. I jumped out of my seat.

"Yeah, I have to get going now guys," I said, grabbing my water bottle. "Thanks for breakfast, Daniel!"

As the byes chorused behind me, I made my way downstairs and out into the dark hallway. So, in a month, I would be moving in with Zach. Was that good? What was it going to be like?

"Hey Ally!" Came a very feminine voice from behind me. It kind of sounded like—

"Rena," I said. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great," she said. "And I'm so glad I bumped into you! I've wanted to talk to you for a while."

I wouldn't put it past Rena to have waited outside my house's door, ready to pounce on me as soon as I left to training.

"So what's up?" I asked, trying to keep a quick pace in order to get to school faster.

"Oh you know," Rena said. "We just haven't talked in a while. I thought we should catch up since we're two of the few girls here."

"Okay," I said. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Um well," Rena said, hesitating to come right out with it. "I heard you got a partner."

"Yes, I did," I said, deciding not to make it easy for her.

"So, what's he like?"

"He's like any of the other guys at our school." Except he was exceptionally good-looking, intelligent and experienced.

"Just like any other guy?"

"Yep." God I was such a liar.

For a moment, silence hung between us. I noticed that Rena's walking made it sound like an elephant was barreling down the hallway. With every sound she made I cringed as I thought about what Zach would say if I walked like that.

"Is he nice?" She asked finally.

I sighed. I couldn't really lie about that.

"Yeah, he's really nice. But he knows how to be mean when necessary."

"Is he a good fighter?"

"Yes."

Another moment of silence.

"Do you think I'm going to get a guy partner?"

And how would I know the answer to that?

"Um, sorry to disappoint, but I don't think so," I said slowly. "Now the amount of girls at school are perfectly even. They might end up pairing you all together."

"Oh," Rena said, obviously unhappy. "Well, why were you the one who got a guy partner?"

I could see this conversation turning very ugly very quickly.

"I don't know," I lied. "They probably just picked randomly." The council had probably known I had more dedication and passion against vampires than any of the other girls. They had probably also know that I wouldn't have gone crazy over Zach once we were partners.

Rena humphed, "Well that just doesn't seem fair."

"I trust the council's decision," I said. "Don't you?"

"You wouldn't say that if I had been chosen instead of you," Rena said. I realized then and there that I never wanted to have to talk to this girl again.

"Think what you like, Rena," I said. "I'm going to be late, so if you'll excuse me." And I began jogging. At a run, I was able to get to the school door in five minutes. I knocked, entered, and made my way through the main rooms. There only a few people milling about since class wouldn't start until nine o' clock today. One of the clocks I passed by stated that it was 7:46, so I was going to be perfectly on time.

I entered the gym and pulled off my jacket as I made my way to my training room. Just as my hand grasped the doorknob, something wrapped around my shoulders and yanked me backwards. It was holding onto my body so tightly that I couldn't even move my elbow to jab behind, so I settled for using my legs instead.

I quickly reached my right leg back to wrap around my attacker's leg. Then I yanked both forward, forcing us to fall backwards. A grunt of pain came from under me and the attacker's hold loosed. I turned around to put my hands around his or her neck, but instead froze in surprise. It was Zach.

He arched an eyebrow and said, "Bad choice. You almost had me."

As I tried to regain my position and get my hands around his neck, he flipped me off him and pulled himself over me in one fluid motion. Once he put his forearm to my neck, I knew it was over.

"Gotcha," He said. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You got lucky this time," I said, pushing on his chest so that he would let me get up.

"How was I lucky?" Zach asked, slowly getting up and brushing himself off. "I created a situation that you could find yourself in any day and you didn't handle it."

"I was just surprised that it was you attacking me," I said. "That's all."

"And that second of hesitation cost you your life," Zach said, reaching a hand down to help me. "Take care never to repeat that mistake. Anyone who is attacking you means you no good."

"Unless they're you though, right?" I asked, using his hand to pull myself up into a standing position.

"Right," He said. "But during our practices, you must act as if I want to kill you, and you need to defend your life, and end mine."

"Okay," I said. "Never show you mercy again. Got it."

"Good," He said, walking away. "And now, we practice."

I let out a deep sigh, "Yay."

We started with a four-mile long run in silence followed by weights and crunches. It was not fun.

"Twenty more," Zach said, as we came up from a frog-leg crunch.

I could feel my hair sticking to the sides of my face as I completed the 61st frog-leg crunch of the day. My abdominals were burning, screaming out for a relief. It was all I could do to keep myself from grunting every time I came up for another crunch. Hey, on the upside, I was going to have a killer bikini body. Not that I would ever need one since I couldn't remember the last time I had gone to the beach or swam in a pool.

"Eighty," Zach counted, as I let my head fall back on the floor. I felt like curling up into a little ball and falling asleep.

He got up quickly, "Alright, time to get back to sparring. But now we're going to concentrate more on hand-to-hand combat with just our fists and with weapons."

"That sounds great," I grumbled. "Can we do that in thirty minutes?"

"No," Zach said, looking at me sternly. "Our bodies are incredibly warmed up right now. If we waited half an hour, you would be more sore at the end of our workout."

I groaned, "I'm going to be in some serious pain tonight."

"We are building up stamina by having long workout sessions, Ally," Zach said. "You never want to be the one to tire first. Whoever gets tired in a fight is usually the one who goes down."

"I know," I said. "I know. This is all going to make me a stronger fighter. It's just a lot to handle all at once, you know?"

Zach just stood there and waited for me to get up.

"I know it's hard to go through the tough training at first, but once you've done it for a while, you'll be stronger and it will get easier. The first couple times are the hardest, but you just have soldier through them. And I know you can, Ally."

I sighed and stood up. He always knew how to chastise me without saying it outright.

"All right, what now?" I said.

"Today we're going to work on how to get out of a strong hold, like a headlock, and then also some basic hand sparring," Zach said. "Now, come up behind me and get me in a headlock."

I nodded and wrapped my arm around his neck. I felt Zack laugh.

"If you held your enemies like this, you would be dead in seconds," He said. "Hold your arm like you mean it."

I pulled his neck closer and held the best headlock I could.

"Good," He said. "Now, there are multiple ways to get out of a headlock. One:" He jabbed his elbow lightly into my ribs. "Two:" He mimicked stomping my foot. "Three:" He lightly bit my arm. "Four:" He reached back to lightly grab my face.

"And you have to be able to respond very quickly because a headlock can potentially cut off your oxygen. Especially if it's a vampire holding you."

"And they would probably try to bite me if they were in that position," I said, letting Zack go since I assumed the demonstration was over.

"Probably, so you want to keep out of that position," Zach said. "Another position is the one I surprised you with earlier, where they wrap their arms around your upper body. For that one, you have to either use your legs or your head.

"If your attacker gets inventive with his holds, just remember, the face, groin and feet are always great places to target. The shins are really painful as well."

I nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to hold you in a restricting position, and you have to get me off," Zach said. "Okay?"

I nodded again and turned around so Zach could do his thing. He chose a choke hold.

"Fight me off," He said, tightening to the point where it was harder to breath.

I stomped and jabbed at the same time and Zach immediately let go.

"Ouch!" He cursed. "You have a hard elbow."

"Hey, it worked right?" I said, smiling sweetly at him. He glared at me while he rubbed his ribs.

"Okay, one more," Zach said. "I don't want to be too bruised today."

I turned around once more. This time, Zach chose a position with more contact. He wrapped his left arm around my neck and his right arm around my upper body. His spread my legs apart with his own so that it would be hard for me to reach back and trip him with one leg. I could feel his chest up against my back, and I was starting to feel a little overheated in the small room.

"Go," He whispered.

He immediately tightened his hold on me. I thought about what body part was free: my head. But that could really hurt me and Zach. Instead, I dropped into a split. Zach, in his surprise, fell forward when he tried to keep his grip on me. One of my arms slipped free and I used it to jab Zach again, taking care not to hit too hard. His grip on my head loosened even more. I slipped out of his hold and stood up quickly over him, putting my sneakered foot on his stomach.

"I win," I said.

Zach's hands reached down to my foot and grabbed it.

"You should never do this either, because giving me control of your foot gives me the ability to twist your leg and make you fall down," He said, slowly twisted my foot around and not letting go.

I immediately saw that he was right. He could make me fall down quite easily from here. I tugged my foot to get him to let go, but he held on tight.

"We all have to pay for our mistakes," He said grimly.

My eyes widened in horror. I looked down at the ground, only covered by a thin mat.

"Please Zach," I said quickly. "It's going to hurt a lot if you do it. Just let go of my foot."

He shook his head solemnly, "I'm afraid I just can't do that. If I was a vampire, there would be no way in hell I would let go of your foot."

And without another word, he twisted my foot hard to the left. My whole body lurched in an attempt to follow it and within seconds, I was crumpled on the floor next to Zach. I groaned.

"Why does the ground have to be so hard?" I mumbled, feeling the pain of contact with cement up and down my body.

Zach chuckled and sat up.

"I think that's enough for today," Zach said. "I have an appointment in an hour anyway, so I have to get going."

"We're done?" I asked, perking up.

Zach smiled and nodded at me. I immediately stood up.

"Alright, then," I said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow!"

I grabbed my jacket and loped out the door, glad to be finished with training for the day. I smiled and waved at people walking by, and they all kind of just gave me weird looks. I saw George and Ricky coming out of a classroom and I went over to them.

"Hey guys," I said. "Nice to see you can still drag yourselves away from the TV."

"Ha ha, you're so funny," Ricky said sarcastically. "What class are you coming from?"

"I just finished up training," I said. "Tomorrow's going to be a sore day."

"That's right," Ricky said. "You don't take classes anymore, huh?"

I shook my head. Class consisted of vampire history, slayer history, fighting techniques, physical education, etc. But now, Zach could teach me all these things, and we could work together to become better partners. Class wasn't really necessary for me anymore. I could always go though.

"We just came from learning why blood appeals to vampires," George said. "Real fascinating stuff."

I laughed, "I can tell that you're loving vamp class."

"Apparently, next week, we're dissecting a vampire," George said. "It should be fun. You should drop by if your partner will let you."

"I'll ask him about it," I said, not really wanting to see the dead insides of a vampire. "See you guys later! I'm off to shower and sleep."

George and Ricky each grinned and waved as we separated. I smiled back as I thought about the hot shower I was about to take. Thank God for plumbing.


	10. An Awkward Move

**An Awkward Move**

When I woke up on the morning of the second missions meeting I would attend, there was an envelope inside my room. Someone had obviously pushed it under the door while I was asleep. As I wiped my eyes, I opened the letter inside and read it.

Dear Ms. Fronter,

Since you have been assigned to a partner, it is evident that you will soon be leaving your living arrangements at the safehouse you currently live in, and moving into your partner's abode. This letter is to inform you that this move will be taking place in just over three weeks, so please be prepared to move all of your personal belongings at that time. Your new home is apartment 035, and the pass code to get inside is 356AF, plus a fingerprint scan. Your fingerprints have already been scanned into the apartment so that you may enter at any time. Please feel free to visit the house before your move date; we would like you to do anything that would make you feel more comfortable. We understand that it may be awkward living with someone of the opposite gender, but we are confident that all will work out fine. Good luck in your move and future missions!

Sincerely,

The Council Members

Great. Another reminder of how my life was going to be very awkward in just a few short weeks.

I got up and began to stretch, a recently added portion to my daily morning routine. I found that it helped with the soreness a little bit. After brushing my teeth and hair, putting on clothes, and applying makeup, I went downstairs and popped some toast. Unfortunately, Daniel wasn't here to make another good breakfast. The house was still very quiet. The boys almost never woke up before eight on their own.

I smeared some smooth peanut butter onto my toast, wrapped it in a paper towel, and left through the hallway. As I walked and munched, I listened for footsteps, indicating that I was not alone in the hallway. Thankfully, none sounded and I ate in silence. Once I entered the school, I headed for gym since that was where Zach and I had decided to meet before the meeting.

As I neared the gym doors, I saw Zach leaning against the wall. He stood up straight when he saw me and waited for me to reach him.

"Morning!" I said as I stopped next to him.

"Good morning," He responded. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded and we began moving off towards the large council room. We walked through the main hallway of classrooms to an elevator that Zach had to punch a code into. The doors slid smoothly open and we entered the large elevator. I saw the two female partners outside the doors and held open the doors for them.

"Thanks hon," The pretty brunette said to me. She turned to Zach and gave him a wide smile, "Heya stranger."

Zach gave her a small smile back, "Hey, long time no see."

"I understand," She said, flipping her hair back. "You've been busy." Here, she tossed me a look.

I decided that I didn't like the flirty, attractive brunette who was making eyes at my partner.

"Tiff," The brunette's blonde-haired partner said. "Concentrate."

"Tiff" gave Zach one last smile and turned to face the doors of the elevator. I glared at the back of her head as the elevator quickly descended further into the ground.

When the doors slid open again, Tiff looked back and gave Zach a little wave.

"See you around," She said with a wink.

"Bye guys," The blonde lady said.

While all four of us stepped out of the elevator, Tiff and her partner branched off to the left while we turned to the right.

"This week, they're on info duty," Zach said as we made our way through the dark hallway. "It's their turn to go out and collect information on specific targets. Once you've graduated, we will be given that duty as well."

I nodded and we continued our walk in silence. When we reached the meeting room, we once again found a place in the back and waited for our names to be called. This time, our names were called with everyone else's, and we were given only one mission.

On Friday evening, Zach had let me go from training a little early since we would be leaving for our mission the next day. I quickly took a shower and packed my stuff for the trip and found that I had nothing to do since all the boys except James were all still at class. James was apparently napping. I decided that it was about time I went to visit Zach's apartment and see what my future living space would look like. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a bad time for Zach, and he would just be busy packing, or maybe not even in the apartment.

I found the number tacked onto our small refrigerator for our safehouse matron and called it with our house phone.

"Miss Rachel speaking," A voice said on the line. "How may I help you?"

"Hi," I said. "This is Ally Fronter from safe house 012. In less than a month I will be moving to my partner's apartment and the council members said that I was welcome to visit the apartment now, but I don't know how to get to them."

"Hold on one second Ally," Miss Rachel said. "Give me a second to verify your information."

I heard typing in the background before Miss Rachel came back on the line, "Alright, I would be happy to give you the information but I need you to come into the matron's office so that we can confirm that it's you we are giving the information to. Please bring some sort of identification to our office. Our office is right next to the entrance to safe house 006. Feel free to visit us whenever you like."

"Great," I said. "I'll be there soon. Thanks!"

I grabbed my purse with my wallet inside and slipped out into the hallway. This time, I turned the opposite direction of the school and began counting down as doorways passed by. In between door seven and six, there was a door with a lock code pad above the door handle. Above the numbers, it said "S-house lock."

Our house had a pad like this one on the inside and outside of the door to get into this hallway that we always had to enter our special number into in order to get through it. I quickly typed in ours: 4208. The door clicked and I opened it and went inside.

There was a large couch with a coffee table sitting right in front of me. To the right, there were a few desks and chairs, one of which Miss Rachel was sitting at.

"Ally, can you come here please?" She asked, waving me over.

I walked over to her and sat down in the chair in front of her desk.

"You've grown a lot since they took the picture they have in the system right now," Miss Rachel said, smiling at me. "You've grown up quite well."

"Thank you," I said quietly, hoping she would get to the directions quickly.

"As you probably know, the location of the apartments is very secretive since we don't want students wandering over there on accident," Miss Rachel said. At my nod, she continued.

"So what I am going to tell you now, you cannot tell to anyone else, understand?" She said. I nodded once more.

"Alright," Miss Rachel said, taking in a deep breath as if she was about lay a large burden on me. "I assume you know how to get to the council room. You have to head as if you were going to the council room. Only, you go past it and keep going until the corridor dead ends into two pathways: left and right. If you go right, you end up at our underground training centers. If you turn left, you will see a bathroom and an elevator. You must take this elevator to get to the apartments. The password for this elevator is the same password as the one to get into your apartment, plus a fingerprint scan. Once inside, click the only other button on the side of the elevator. It will take you to the hallway to get into the apartments. The doors have numbers on them so you should be able to find yours very easily. Can you remember all that?"

I nodded and stood up, "Thank you for your help Miss Rachel. I'll be on my way now."

"Of course," She said, smiling at me. "I hope you don't get lost!"

"Thanks," I said, and walked back into the hallway.

My trip was fairly easy until I saw the first elevator I would have to ride in. It was then that I remembered that I didn't know the password to get into this elevator. I began to slow my walk as I considered my options. Should I go back to Miss Rachel? Should I just wait for another time?

When I saw that a guy walking ahead of me was heading straight for the elevator, I sped up, hoping I would be able to catch a ride. He punched in the password and got into the elevator. When he saw me coming towards him, he held the door open for me.

"Thanks!" I said, glad that everything had worked out so well.

"No problem," The guy said. "Hey, you're Zach's new partner, right?"

I looked at him fully for the first time, "Yeah hi, I'm Ally." He was actually pretty cute.

"I'm Jake," He said, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you finally."

"Nice to meet you too," I said, smiling at him.

"You know, you're kind of a legend, and you haven't even graduated yet," He said, grinning back at me.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Well, you've been placed with a partner of the opposite gender, something that is done very rarely, and you're only seventeen," Jake said. "The other two women who were assigned to men partners had already been with partners and were very experienced. You are the start of a new age."

I was kind of stunned. I hadn't realized that my partnership had caused such a stir in the slayer world.

"I didn't realize that," I said, not really sure how to respond.

"Let me tell you, there are a lot of guys beating themselves up over not getting you as their partner," Jake said. "I can see why."

I smiled at his flirtation, "And that is probably why none of them were assigned to a girl in the first place."

"Ah yes," Jake said. "Supposedly, they choose Zach because they think he can keep his libido in check." He gave me an appraising look, "We'll see about that."

Thankfully, the doors slid open and put an end to our conversation.

"Well, once again, it was nice meeting you," Jake said. "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," I said quietly. "See you around."

Jake turned left while I kept to the right. I walked straight to the end of the long hall and turned left, as Miss Rachel had directed me. There was, as she said, an elevator at the end with a keypad and fingerprint pad. I quickly typed in 356AF and place my thumb on the finger pad. After a few seconds of whirring, the doors to the elevator opened and I stepped inside.

The doors shut quickly and, once I pushed the apartment-floor button, the elevator shot up. When the doors opened again, my mouth dropped open in awe. While the pre-graduate slayers were stuck with dark and dreary halls, the fully-trained slayers were treated with more light and painted yellow walls and cappuccino brown carpet. There were even pictures and paintings on the walls, making me feel like I was walking into a hotel hallway. The first apartment door came up on my left. It said APT 1, APT 2, APT 3. I guess I was going to have to walk a ways to get to my apartment.

I passed by one pair of guys who each gave me a smile and a nod. I smiled back and kept moving. The passage was never truly straight because there was no way the school would be able to maintain enough apartments in a straight line. I had to pick my way through a couple forks and turns before I finally found myself in front of the door saying APT 34, APT 35, APT 36.

I punched in the code and scanned my finger as I had at the elevator, and the door unlocked. I opened it and poked my head inside. This wasn't the door to the apartment, but rather the door to the hallway that contained the door to my apartment. I realized that I was under a staircase. I crept into the stair well. Opposite of the stairs I had been under was a door that probably went outside. It also had a keypad and finger pad.

I went up the stairs and saw that this door was labeled "34". 35 must be on the next floor. I went up another set of stairs and saw the door to my future apartment. I paused before it and just waited for a minute. I didn't hear any sounds of movement inside the apartment. I knocked lightly. No answer. He must not be in the apartment at the moment. Well, as long as I didn't mess with his things, he probably wouldn't mind if I just checked out the apartment.

I bit my lip, weighing my choices. I had come all this way. I might as well go inside. My fingers hovered over the keypad in another second of hesitation. And then they typed, and my finger was scanned, and I heard the door unlock. I opened it slowly.

The first thing on the left was a living room area with a TV and couch. It was decorated very tastefully in greens and browns. Behind the large couch was a dinner table with four chairs around it. There was also a little kitchen on the other side of the table. Even though the sink had a few piled dishes inside, the kitchen was pretty clean. On the right, there was an open door which, I discovered, was the bathroom. I was about to move to the two closed doors further into the apartment when I heard a very feminine laugh. I froze, staring at the room the noise had come from.

Before I could move, the door swung open and a woman dressed in a towel came out, looking back into the room. When she turned towards me, I immediately recognized her as Tiff. She stopped walking and her smile disappeared.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked snidely, quickly pulling her towel tighter around her body.

I was speechless for a moment. I was about to ask her the same question. Then Zach appeared.

"Hey can you—," He broke off, seeing me standing there. He looked gorgeous, as always, and he was also only wearing a towel, which made me blush even more.

We both stared at each other, our mouths slightly open. I don't think either of us could believe the current situation.

"Ally," Zach said, still looking confused.

I took one more look at Tiff and then turned around and walked out of the apartment. I sprint-walked down the stairs and through the hallways, stopping only for keypads. How could I possibly face him tomorrow? We were about to go on a mission, but how would it work if I wanted to avoid him as much as possible?

"Ally!" I heard Zach call just as the first set of elevator doors slid shut. Once I was in the council room hallway, I sprinted to the other side, hoping that Zach wouldn't be close enough to catch me. I certainly earned some strange looks from a few slayers walking around. I knew that once I was at my house, I would be safe because Zach didn't know the password to get inside. So once I was out of the main school area and into the hallway to the safe houses, I started to sprint again. God knew what I was going to do tomorrow.


	11. Kiss & Tell

**Kiss & Tell**

I stared out the window, mindlessly watching the scenery go by. After a quiet hello, I hadn't spoken another word to Zach, and I could feel him watching me as we continued to drive. I probably wasn't making the situation any better, but I just couldn't bring myself to speak with him as if I hadn't caught him sleeping with Tiff. We stayed silent until Zach pulled over into a hotel driveway.

"We'll get a room here and wait until it's time for our mission," Zach said to me. I nodded and got out of the car once he had turned it off. I followed him inside and after checking in and paying, we got back in the car and drove to our rooms. While we drove, he handed me a key that was in a case marked for room 108.

As soon as the car was parked and turned off, I jumped out and grabbed my luggage from the backseat. I began walking towards my room.

"You know you're going to have to eventually talk to me, right?" Zach said behind me. I looked back at him and kept walking. Yes, I would have to eventually, but I wasn't going to start just yet.

I heard him kick the car wheel behind me. I kept walking. It wasn't that Zach was dating someone. I didn't own him, and we weren't dating, so I was fine with him dating someone. But it had to be Tiff? Someone I instinctively didn't like. Ugh, I just couldn't look at him in the same way anymore.

I slid my key into the key slot. It beeped and I heard the latch slide open. I opened the door and walked in, dropping my stuff on the floor. I immediately headed for the bathroom; holding it for four hours made for a pretty serious bathroom situation. When I came back out, I realized something strange. There were two beds in this room. Zach should've just gotten me one bed; it would have saved money.

Then I heard the door whirring behind me, and it opened and Zach came through. My mouth dropped open.

"Why are you in here?" I asked, forgetting my resolve to not speak to him.

He gave me a strange look, "This is my room."

"Oh," I said. "Did you give me the wrong key?"

Zach looked as if he was holding back a grin, "Nope."

We stood in silence for a moment.

"But where am I going to sleep?" I asked.

"You can pick whichever bed you want," He said, now grinning. "I prefer the bed closest to the door, but I can sleep anywhere."

"We're both sleeping in here?" I asked, looking back to the two beds. Thank god he had at least gotten separate beds. I might've killed him if he had asked for one king-sized bed.

"We save money this way," He said, moving towards the bed closest to us. "Besides, it seems like getting you angry is the only way to get you to talk to me."

Wrong thing to say Zach. I immediately shut my mouth and tramped over to my bed, placing my belongings on the armchair next to it.

"It's seven twenty-three," Zach said. "Want to go get some breakfast-styled dinner?"

"No," I said, and grabbed my pajamas and toiletries and went to the bathroom. I was hungry, but not hungry enough to suffer through an awkward dinner with Zach. I few minutes later, I heard the door to our room open. I assumed it was Zach leaving for food.

I washed my face, brush my teeth, slipped on my tang top and shorts, and got into bed. It was only seven thirty in the morning, but with our schedules, we would need to sleep during the day in order to ensure we would be able to stay alert during our mission tonight. Not to mention, I was tired after traveling for so long. Moments after my head sunk blissfully into the pillow, I was asleep.

"Hey sleeping beauty, it's time to go slay some dragons," Zach's voice said. I opened my eyes. Zach was standing in front of me, drying his hair with a towel. I glared at him and then closed my eyes again. It was always hard for me to be woken up by other people.

"Hey, get up," He said louder. "My hair is still wet enough to soak you."

"You wouldn't dare," I mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

He laughed, "I wouldn't? You already don't like me very much, so it wouldn't make a difference."

"Oh believe me," I said. "It would. You would rise up to a whole other level of dislike."

"Hmmm," Zach said. "Well, I guess I'm just going to have to take my chances."

I opened my eyes just as Zach reached me and was about to bend down towards me. I immediately dove under the covers towards the bottom of the bed. As my head went deeper down, my feet went towards the opening of the covers, and he grabbed one foot and pulled me out. In a very quick motion, he pulled me completely out from under the covers.

"You asked for it," He said, grinning widely at me. I tried to escape to the other side of the bed but he still was holding my ankle.

"Okay, I'm awake!" I yelled. "Please don't get me wet."

"Too late," Zach said, and immediately commenced shaking his head. I groaned as the cold drops of water sprayed onto my face and legs.

Once he stopped, I glared at him, "I will repay you for this one day."

Zach grinned at me, "Looking forward to it."

"Let go of my foot"

"Only if you ask nicely."

I smiled sweetly at him, and then reached forward and banged his elbow's funny bone with my knuckle. I climbed out of his reach as he let go and groaned.

"When'd you learn that trick?" He asked, holding his elbow and frowning.

I smiled happily, "Can't remember, but it sure comes in handy, doesn't it?"

He glared, "Just get ready. We'll be leaving in twenty minutes."

In exactly twenty minutes, we were on the road, driving towards the nightclub called Tipsy Gypsy. The club manager was a suspected vampire, but people hadn't seen enough of her to be sure. Our mission was a sort of special one, since we would have to observe her and then deem how and when to take her out.

We would probably be staying here a few days in order to figure out how to get the job done. As a result, we had brought several different disguises so we wouldn't appear too suspicious. Today I wore a short black wig and glasses and Zach now sported a mustache and a wig much like mine, but shorter, and in a more manly style. I also caked makeup onto my face to make me look older. It wasn't very attractive, but it worked.

We parked a few blocks away and walked to the nightclub. As sounds of drunken laughter and loud music filled the air, Zach reached down and looped my arm through his arm. I considered pulling away, but we were on a mission, and during a mission, I had to be professional. There was only a little bit of a line out front since it was still pretty early in the evening. Before long, we were inside and moving towards the bar.

"Are you going to get something?" I asked him as he pulled me through the crowd.

"Maybe some soda or water, but I'm going to ask the bartender where the private rooms are," Zach said.

"Why would we go to the private rooms?" I asked.

"They're probably upstairs, close to the manager's office, which would be an advantage for us," He said.

"Oh," I said, just as we reached the bar.

The bartender came over with a glass in his hand, "What will it be?"

"We're just going to get soda for now," Zach said with a heavy southern drawl. "How about a coke and a sprite."

"Coming right up," The bartender said, turning away to get two glasses.

When he came back with our glasses, I kept with the persona.

"Thanks hon," I said, picking up the cup of sprite and drinking from it.

Just as the bartender was about to go to another customer, Zach stopped him.

"Hey man," He said, bending closer. "Can you point us toward the private rooms?"

"Sure, they're straight up those stairs over there," the bartender said. "You can see the doors just behind that rail. Any room is okay to go in except for the last one, which has that man standing in front of it."

"Oh," I said. "Is that a premium room?"

The bartender laughed, "Sort of. It's the manager's office. She doesn't like to be bothered."

"Thanks man," Zach said, and passed a twenty-dollar tip to the bartender.

The bartender grinned widely at us, "No problem."

"Alright, let's dance," Zach said.

"Dance?" I said. "Why? Shouldn't we just go up to the rooms?"

He chuckled, "Hasty, aren't we?" I blushed, even though I knew he was kidding.

"We should just observe for a while," Zach said, looking pointedly at the burly man standing in front of the manager's office. "Come on."

He grabbed my hand and began pulling me towards the dance floor. Since the rooms were on the opposite side of the room, we had to go through a lot of dancing people to get closer to the other side. When we stopped at a small opening in the dancing crowd, I waited for Zach to lead. I noticed that the other couples were dancing with the girl in front of the guy, plastered to his front. Was I supposed to do that?

Zach used the hand he was holding onto to twirl me around so that my back was to him. He placed his other hand on my waist and pulled me close.

"Sorry girly, but it's part of the job," Zach whispered into my ear.

I was speechless. I knew that I should be extremely unhappy in this position, but as I felt Zach's strong body behind me, in contact with my entire backside, I felt thrills and excitement. Zach placed his left hand that was still holding my own on my other hip, so while technically, I was touching my own hip, I could feel the heat of his hand through my own sinking through my clothes. Whoo, it was getting warm in here.

Zack used his hands to direct my hips to match the beat and his own hips. Together, our hips moved in arcs from side to side, and I realized that I wouldn't mind dancing with Zach everyday for the rest of our lives. The feeling of being so close to another human being was strangely comforting. Zach felt like a protective wall behind me, like nothing would ever hurt me again.

"Are you okay?" Zach asked. "You're pretty quiet."

"Just fine," I said, glad he couldn't read my mind. I tried to keep my focus on the task at hand, watching the guard inconspicuously. The man barely moved. After fifteen minutes or so, another man came, spoke a few sentences, and they switched places.

"What time is it?" I asked Zach. He raised his forearm so he could see his watch.

"9:58," He said.

"Maybe they switch off posts every half hour or hour," I said. "Although I'm not sure if that information helps us."

"You never know," Zach said. "All information comes in handy."

We watched the guard for the next hour, sometimes taking breaks for drinks. They had switched again at 10:30, and we could now see another security guard coming to replace the one standing there now.

I felt Zach's hand shift so that he was now grasping my hand. He slowly twirled me around so that I was facing him and pulled me close. I tried not to look surprised. He gave me a smile that had to warm even the iciest of hearts and then bent so that his lips were at my ear.

"I think it's about time we go up to the rooms," he whispered. "I know you're not in the best of moods Ally, but don't ever forget that we're completing a mission right now."

I nodded my head and smiled for anyone watching, "Don't worry, I don't let my personal life and work life intermix."

Zach gave a low chuckle, "I wonder if that was a jab back at me." He sighed. "I'll explain things to you later. Let's make our way up."

He pulled away and winked at me. Keeping my hand in his, he began to pull me through the crowd. I gave anyone who bothered to look at me a salacious grin. Soon enough, we were climbing the stairs. Zach settled his arm around my waist, his hand caressing my side. I wrapped my arm around him as well, feeling his strong back and side.

When we reached the second floor, I kept my eyes on his face and tried to look as happy and ditsy as possible while letting him guide me closer to the rooms. We passed by the first rooms and continued until the very end, where the bodyguard stood. His stance tightened as we came closer.

Zach played the loquacious drunk, "Hey man, how're you doing?"

He didn't answer, only gave us an annoyed look. I followed Zach's cue.

"Wow," I said, batting my eyes at him. "Isn't he a big one honey?"

Zach laughed, "He certainly is baby. Man, were you born this way or do you work out all the time?"

"May I help you two with something?" He grumbled. "The directions to the parking lot perhaps?"

I giggled, "He's funny honey."

Zach smiled at me, "Thanks mister but we'll just be heading into this room here. We've got some business to take care of."

I swore I saw the guard give us an eyeroll. I pulled open the door for the last room on the hall before the manager's room. I gave the guard a wink before strolling in.

"See you in a bit!" I said.

Zach followed and closed the door behind him. We were in a small, dark room. The lights and furniture all had a pink-red hue that made me realize there probably had been a lot of disgusting things that had happened in this room. I immediately decided I didn't want to sit on any of the furniture.

Zach had already gone to the wall connecting to the manager's office and had his hands cupped around his ear as he pressed against the wall. When he noticed that I hadn't sat down, he raised an eyebrow at me. I scanned the furniture again and grimaced. He straightened and pulled off his jacket before laying it down on the closest couch.

"Rest easy," he said quietly.

I looked at the jacket for a few seconds before deciding that it was worth taking his charity if I got to sit down for a bit. The look of concentration on Zach's face told me that there was a conversation happening on the other side of the wall. I turned my body and held my ear to the wall as well. The words were just barely discernible.

"…fresh shipment should be here by tomorrow morning." A male voice said.

"Good," A female voice replied. "And it better be the right shipment this time. It took forever to get rid of all that A-plus blood that no one wanted."

Zach and my gaze met. This vampire was a blood dealer.

"The company sent 50 extra bags of your order as an apology for that time," the man responded.

"As they should," she said. "I'd be surprised if anyone showed up here after that fiasco. If there's any more blips with this company, we're switching."

There was a pause in conversation. Just before I pulled my ear away, the vampire spoke up again.

"How are things at the club tonight?" she asked. There was a sound of rustling papers.

"Just fine," he said. "A normal night. Lots of people on the dance floor. Lots of people drinking. Should be no trouble."

"That's good," she said. "Please oversee the delivery in the morning and make sure nothing goes wrong. You can go rest so that you're alert in the morning."

"Sure boss."

There were footsteps.

"One second," the vampire said. "I heard the nearby room door open and close earlier, but there haven't been any sounds coming from the room. I didn't have any customers scheduled tonight. Go and make sure there isn't anyone snacking on our club customers. That's the last thing before you leave."

The footsteps resumed and I saw Zach quickly but quietly slide onto the couch. I got up, turned my back to him, and let my backside rest on his lap. A lap dance to convince the minion we were being quiet for a reason. As I grimaced inside my head at the absurd thing I was doing to my partner, I imagined that I was playing the part of a beautiful exotic dancer. My eyes slid close and I let my body move in a rhythm only known to myself. As I let my body brush again Zach's, I heard him release a breath of pent-up air. We were great actors, the two of us.

The door creaked open slightly, but I ignored it and continued with what I was doing. Zach's hands rested on my hips, slightly squeezing me. It was time to sell our act. I turned and got onto the couch, straddling Zach's body between my legs. I pretended to notice the man at the door. I twiddled my fingers at him.

"Hey handsome," I said. "Care to join?"

Then I bent down to Zach's neck and began to nuzzle him as I let my hands drop down his chest to the bottom of his shirt. As I began to pull his shirt up, I heard the door shut. I stopped moving and waited for the footsteps to disappear. When I was sure he wasn't coming back, I jumped off Zach's lap. It seemed like pretending to make out got us out of a lot of bad situations. It didn't do anything for my mood though.

I stalked to the other side of the room and sat down on the couch, regardless of what might be on it. I already felt dirty. Zach immediately pressed his ear against the wall again. After a few minutes, he shook his head, indicating that the vampire wasn't saying anything anymore. Soon, it would be time to make our exit.


	12. Just Business

**Just Business**

I tapped my foot against the table, pretending to be zoning out. The hum of the café surrounded me, and I felt strange being in a normal human world. It was eight in the morning, generally not a time I would be awake. Zach and I had decided we wanted to watch the delivery the vampire had been speaking of. Since we didn't know the exact time of the delivery, we had been on post since six after taking a nap to make sure we would stay awake.

I sipped my cappuccino and continued to let my gaze drift over the world outside. More often than not, it rested on the alleyway behind the Tipsy Gypsy, where we assumed the delivery would come. When I didn't look at it, as I tried not to, I watched the people and cars going by. No one noticed me, as they were wrapped up in their own worlds. And I was just fine with that.

I returned my attention to the crossword puzzle in front of me, my pretense for sitting in the café for so long. I didn't think that it would work for too much longer. I would likely have to get a magazine or book from the nearby bookstore. Still, I had probably pulled the easier job. Zach was on the roof of the building next to the Tipsy Gypsy, waiting for my word that the delivery truck was there so that he could get a good look at what was going on.

The chair next to me was pulled out and a young man sat down. I was surprised when he placed his coffee cup on the table and smiled at me. His skin had a deep tan which perfectly framed his white teeth and green eyes.

"Hey," he said.

I blinked, "Hi."

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.

When I hesitated, he continued to talk.

"Sorry, I don't normally do this. You just seem like a nice lady, and I guess I was feeling kind of chatty today." He grinned at me apologetically.

I recovered, "Sure, I don't mind." I weakly gestured toward my crossword puzzle. "I've been doing this for hours but I'm afraid I'm no good at it. I think I'd rather watch what's going on outside the window."

"Do you mind if I have a look?" He asked, holding out his hand.

I silently hoped he was horrible at crosswords. If he finished mine quickly, I would be that much closer to no longer having a reason to be here. I smiled at him and handed my pencil and crossword over. As he looked over the puzzle, he twirled the pencil with his fingers.

"That's pretty impressive," I said without realizing it.

He paused, looking up. I immediately felt abashed.

"Your pencil gymnastics I mean," I mumbled.

He laughed, "Yeah, I guess I do it without thinking now. Do you want to learn how to do it?"

Just before I was about to respond, I noticed a large truck pull into the alleyway. I had such bad luck.

"That would be great," I said. "Though I don't know if I'd be any good at it. Would you mind waiting until after I go to the bathroom?"

"Sure of course," He said with a grin.

"Try not to finish the entire crossword while I'm gone," I teased.

I grabbed my purse and headed to the bathroom. After closing the door and locking it, I quickly dialed Zach's phone.

"Hey, I think I left the oven on at home," I said. "Would you mind turning it off for me?"

"Got it," Zach whispered.

"Thanks, see you."

I actually went to the bathroom, for good measure, and then rejoined the stranger at the table.

"Before I teach you any of my trade secrets, I thought we could introduce ourselves," he said. He smiled at me and extended his hand. "I'm Mark."

Again, I assessed his features. He had strong bone structure, and there was some intelligent glimmer in his eyes that made me curious and suspicious at the same time.

"Jackie," I said, shaking his hand. It was colder than normal, which surprised me.

"So, now that's out of the way," he pulled another pencil from his pocket and handed me back my own. "Hold it like this to start."

I followed his instructions as he taught me how to twirl my pencil. Soon enough, likely due to the dexterity that came with my slayer training, I was twirling that pencil back and forth so quickly it was a blur.

Mark laughed, "You're a natural!"

"Why thank you," I said, stopping the pencil and setting it down on the table. I realized I had been letting my guard down and not watching the alley as much as I should have. There should be no problems though. I just had to wait for Zach's signal. I glanced up and ensured that the truck was still there and that it was still peaceful outside.

"So, back to this crossword?" Mark asked. I returned my gaze to him and nodded.

As we went, we chatted about ourselves. I tried to make it mostly about him, though I did tell him I was staying with my aunt on the outskirts of town. When we had conquered up to 36 down, I heard the telltale vibration coming from my purse. Just one buzz. This was a good sign. I pulled out my phone and opened the text.

"The house didn't burn down," it said.

"Oh wow, look at the time," I said, acting surprised. "I have to go shopping with my aunt in twenty minutes."

"Ah, well this was fun," he said. I rose from my seat and smiled at him.

"Yeah," I said, realizing I wasn't sure how to leave without being awkward. "Thanks for teaching me and helping me with the puzzle.

He nodded, and realizing he still had the puzzle in his hands, extended it to me.

Shaking my head, I pushed it back toward him, "You keep it. I don't think I have the motivation to finish it on my own. See you around." I gave him a little wave and began to head toward the door.

"Hold on a second," he said. I turned back to see him scribbling something on a napkin. "Don't forget this, you're going to need it."

He put the napkin in my hand. I spread it open and saw that there was a number on it.

"My phone number," he winked. "Don't lose it."

My jaw dropped for a second before I laughed.

"You're quite forward aren't you," I said.

"I know when I shouldn't let someone walk out of my life for good," he said, with a serious yet jovial expression on his face.

"Honest and corny," I said. "Interesting combination." I waved again and left the café.

I walked a few blocks to the parking lot we had left our car in. Zach was already there, leaning against the side of the car. I smiled and waved, pretending to be the doting girlfriend he was waiting for.

"Hey you," I said, opening my arms for a hug.

"Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around me and planting a kiss on my forehead. He pulled open the passenger door and let me get in before getting in the driver's seat.

As we pulled out into the street, our façade fell away.

"So, how'd it go?" I asked.

"Fine," he said. "There aren't many people working for this club. It's clear they keep their ranks small and tight. I'm not sure if the people know exactly what they're moving in all those boxes. If they do, we can bet the vampire is paying them a lot for their work and silence."

"Did you get an idea of how much blood they bring in?" I asked.

The blood they got in a shipment would likely last for a month at the most, so we were looking at a month's worth of shipment.

He sighed, "It's hard to know for sure, but if there were ten bags a box, there were twenty boxes. Which means around 200 bags."

I did some quick math in my head, "So on average she's selling seven bags a day."

He nodded.

"That's a pretty decent flow of customers, considering that bagged blood isn't a cheap drink," I said.

"What do you think we should do from here?" he asked.

After a couple of minutes of thinking about it, I spoke up.

"What if we hung out a couple of days by the bar and caught some of her customers?"

His brow creased, "We wouldn't be able to do that too long before she begins to notice that her customers aren't returning."

I shrugged, "Seems like if we can get more vamps than just our main target, it's worth it. We could just do it for a couple of days and then kill our actual target before she gets wary."

Zach thought about it for a few minutes and then nodded.

"Seems like an okay plan. We just have to be careful that no one notices."

I agreed with him.

"And where exactly are we going to put all of the dead bodies?" he asked.

That was a good question.


	13. A Pile of Bodies

**A Pile of Bodies**

Again we waited behind the dumpster. We had seen a female vampire go into the club twenty minutes ago, and based on the stays of the other vampires, we expected she would be coming out soon.

The last two nights had gone fairly smoothly. The first kill had been the most difficult, since we had to learn how exactly the vampires went to and from the building, and how long they generally stayed. We quickly discovered a special stairway in the back of the club that was reserved for the vampire clientele. We didn't dare to go up the stair ourselves, but we assumed it led to special rooms where the vampires could drink bags of blood in peace. A vampire could use an entire bag of blood to sustain themselves for two to three days. Longer than that and they begin to starve. So, we figured we could spend two days on our killing spree before the club owner realized her clients weren't coming back.

We already had three vampires in our trunk from this night. Yesterday we had caught seven, which forced us to use our backseat in addition to the trunk. Luckily we had blankets to cover the bodies in order to prevent it from looking too suspicious. So, after finishing up tonight, we would move to target the club owner.

The crunch of gravel resounded over the parking lot. My body immediately became aware of the surroundings. Zach carefully took a peak around the corner of the dumpster, checking to make sure it was the vampire who had gone up the stairs earlier. He was about to signal for us to move when I heard a second pair of footsteps.

"Dalia," A pretty female voice said. "How have you been?"

"Oh much better now," the other female voice said, laughing. "They got a really good stock in this time."

I looked at the back of Zach's head, wondering whether he thought we should wait or take on them both.

"Great, I'll look forward to it," the first voice said. "Will I see you at Mitchell's in a few days?"

Zach signaled for us to wait.

"Sure sure," the second voice responded. "I'm hoping it will be better than last time. Maybe he'll have some live ones for us this time." She laughed and the other vampire joined her.

"See you then."

"Bye."

Both pairs of footsteps commenced walking once more, one getting quieter and one getting louder. It was going to be tight. With one vampire climbing the stairs, we couldn't risk being seen attacking this vampire. We both froze, not daring to move a single muscle as she walked by. As she rounded the corner of the building, we knew we had little time to react before she left the darkness that cloaked the back of the club.

We moved quickly and silently, following her around the corner. Zach grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it away from us, but close enough that she would have to turn around. The clatter echoed loudly throughout the parking lot. The vampire stopped and turned.

"Amelie?" she said. When there was no response, she took a few steps closer to us and looked around in the darkness. Knowing full and well that with a better eyesight, the vampire would see us if she looked in our direction, we pounced. By the time we were in front of her, she was too surprised to scream. In the next second, I had pierced her cold heart with my stake, and Zach had twisted her head to prevent her from screaming. She immediately dropped to the ground.

None of the vampires here had been too hard to kill. Since there weren't slayers that close to this area, there was no reason for them to be as on guard as those who were close to our school. Had this vampire had time to react though, the situation could have been very different.

I picked up the body and threw it over my shoulder. We quickly made our way to the car and stuffed her in the trunk. It didn't look like there would be space for any more bodies here. Once the trunk was closed, Zach gave me a weary smile.

"I haven't killed this many vampires in such a short amount of time in a while," he said, running his hand through his hair. "It seems so much easier too. It's almost bizarre."

I leaned against the trunk and looked up at the stars, which were few but still beautiful.

"I guess you wouldn't know," he continued. "You've only really been out in the real world with a partner. So it's always been this way for you." He sighed, "You make it a lot easier Ally."

I looked over at him. Now he was gazing up at the stars as well. I could see why all the girls at school, and even full-grown slayers adored him. He was quite the man to behold. Now he had some stubble from being too busy to shave, giving him a mysterious edge he hadn't had before. His body was well-toned and built, likely from his many years of training. I had been up against that body enough times to know that it felt just as strong as it looked.

"I'm glad to be of service," I said, returning my gaze to the sky. "You know, it's because I have this great teacher at school."

He guffawed, "Paying lip service now are we? Well, I'll take the compliment anyway."

"Shall we go back to our post?" I asked. "Seems like we have another customer who will be on their way relatively soon."

Zach nodded and we headed back to our spot.

Nine bodies in total that night. We had gotten lucky when two men went in at the same time just before the club closed. Though they were harder to take down since they were together, we managed to take them down and shove them into the car without anything worse than a couple of scratches. My hip was sore from hitting the wall once when one male had shoved me. I noticed Zach wincing when he had to rotate his arm. We weren't unscathed, but we were successful.

We were now in the process of getting rid of the bodies, which was not a pleasant process. Without a good place to roast the bodies, we decided on dissolving them in acid. After getting a couple of plastic buckets and a very sharp saw, we set about breaking apart the bodies and dissolving them piece by piece. It took forever, and the smell was not one bit pleasant. I was really looking forward to a shower once this was all done.

It was pretty evident that we were also both pretty tired. Two nights of constantly being on guard had worn us down.

Zach let the last two arms and head slide into the bucket. I watched the acid eat away at the vampire flesh, surprised I wasn't more disgusted. I guess I had just gotten used to it.

"Once this is done, we can add the base to neutralize it and then dump it down the drain," Zach said wearily.

"So should we take our showers before or after that happens?" I asked.

He laughed, "Well I'd be worried about the juices splashing on me even after it's neutralized. We'll let the water run for a while to make sure nothings left in the bath so we can get clean without worrying about it."

I nodded and then left the bathroom to turn on the TV. Might as well relax and watch something while we waited for the vampire body parts to dissolve into oblivion.


	14. The Big Kahuna

**The Big Kahuna**

We were in the nightclub again. This time I wore very little makeup except around my eyes and a fake mole that I painted next to my lips. I wore a long blonde wig that had perfect curls, and had chosen clothes that were even scantier than last time. I knew a good part of my cleavage was showing, and that my short tight skirt was doing wonders for my legs and backside. Zach had let his beard continue to grow, and chose a long-haired wig for tonight's excursion.

Tonight we bought real drinks, thinking that it would be weird to again be the only couple ordering sodas at a club. I sipped mine slowly, knowing full and well that we needed to keep our wits about us. As the warmth pooled in my belly, Zach indicated we should get up and dance again. We had come later in the night so that more people would be here. It was much easier to blend into the crowd this way. Tonight the music playing was different, and people were dancing more by themselves than with one another. Zach and I jumped and swayed to the unfamiliar rhythms, biding our time until we went upstairs.

A man approached me from the right with a large smile, "Can I get you a drink sweetie?"

I felt a hand on my waist pull me backward.

"Look elsewhere man," Zach's voice growled behind me.

The man lifted both his hands in surrender and moved on while saying, "Let me know if you change your mind sweetheart." I guess my outfit was doing its job.

"Let's just go upstairs," Zach said, his breath cooling my ear.

He linked his hand in mine and we went upstairs for the second and final time. Again, we walked to the end of the hallway where the bodyguard stood. As Zach moved to open the door, the bodyguard interrupted.

"That room already has people in it." He said.

Zach looked at him, "I know, they're our friends. They told us to join them."

The bodyguard said nothing else; Zach opened the door and pulled us inside quickly. The couple inside looked up at us, squinting their eyes to see who it was in the darkness.

"Who's that?" the man sitting on the sofa asked.

Zach strode over to them, "Hey man, how're you doing?" He quickly reached for the man's neck and when I noticed the man's head droop to the side, I knew Zach had used a pressure point to knock him out. He repeated the same to the woman kneeling before the man. I was immediately glad he was able to put a quick end to the awkward situation. We both pressed our ear once again to the wall.

There was nothing but an occasional creak and sound of things moving around. We listened for a long time and heard nothing interesting. The man on the other couch began to stir, and Zach went again to knock him out. I started to get worried. If we were in here for too long, the body guard might get suspicious. Suddenly, I heard a knocking.

"Come in," the vampire said.

The door creaked and someone walked into the room.

"How're things," she asked.

"Good, as per usual," the new person said.

"Great," the vampire said. "I think I'll head home now then. Take care of things for me would you?"

"Of course," the man said.

He left, and after some more noises the door opened again, presumably signaling that the vampire had left. We waited until the room had been silent for 5 minutes before deciding to act.

"We need her home address," Zach said.

"We need to get by the bodyguard," I said.

We both nodded and Zach went to open the door.

"Hey man," Zach said, sounding worried. "My friend just collapsed. Can you come in here and check on him?"

The bulky bodyguard came into the room and walked over to the couple on the couch. I immediately headed for the manager's room. I heard a muffled thump as the bodyguard's body fell to the ground. Luckily, the door was unlocked. They must have figured that the bodyguards were enough to deter people from going in, at least until closing time.

I slipped in and closed the door behind me, hoping no one had noticed. The room was sparsely decorated, but the few pieces of art and furniture that were inside were exquisitely designed. I quickly moved to her desk and scanned for something that would tell me her address. One perk of having no lines on our hands were that we couldn't leave fingerprints, though we doubted anyone but vampires would investigate this kill.

I pulled open the first couple drawers, hoping to find some bills or something that would have her home address. Halfway through the second drawer, I struck gold. There was a stack of mail that looked like it had been from another building, since they all were addressed to an address that wasn't this one. I took one of the envelopes and folded it to fit in my back pocket.

After putting everything back in place, I left the room and returned to the private one next door. I arrived just as I saw Zach slipping a pill into the bodyguard's mouth. I assumed it was so that when the bodyguard awoke, he wouldn't remember what had happened. When he looked over at me, I nodded, indicating that I had what we needed. Now we needed to go before someone noticed the guard wasn't where he should be.

Zach and I left, a happy drunk couple that were ready to go home.

Inside the car, I used my phone to look up the address that was on the envelope I had taken. It was a fifteen minute drive from the club and seemed to be a good ways away from the center of town. While we couldn't be sure it was her private home, it was as good of a guess as any. We followed the directions my phone gave me. When we came into a residential area, I became more confident that it was the place we were looking for.

When the phone indicated we had arrived at our destination, we pulled over a bit of the way down the street. We took turns changing into more comfortable and darker clothing, and armed ourselves with silver knives and stakes. After making sure no one was driving or walking down the street, we crossed over and began the walk down the long driveway that was labeled with the house number we were looking for. There were little lights that lined the driveway, which we made sure to keep away from. Silently, we stole our way down the long drive and stayed alert for any cameras or alarm systems that we would need to worry about.

After passing through some trees and bushes, a house appeared. The lights were on in a room upstairs and in another room downstairs. We circled the house, staying in the shadows, trying to locate our target as well as find a good point of entry. Luckily, the room that was lit downstairs was on the opposite side of the house from the backdoor that we had been eyeballing. Zach squeezed my shoulder before heading for the door. As we had discussed, I would go to see what the target was doing while he unlocked the backdoor.

Finally, a flickering of light caught my eye and I saw the vampire walk into a room that I assumed was the kitchen and living room. She carried a glass full of a dark red liquid which I didn't have to second-guess what it was. She sat down at a table and raised a remote, presumably turning on a TV. How human of her.

When she continued to sit and stare off toward where she had pointed the remote to, I thought it was about time for us to go after her. I crept over to the side of the house where Zach would be. He had opened the door and seemed to be about to come and tell me he had been successful. When he noticed me, he used his fingers to indicate that I should go over.

We went inside the room and found that we were inside a laundry room. Zach closed the door behind us, making sure to leave it unlocked in case we needed to leave for any reason. I peeked around the corner to the next room, an empty, dark sitting room. Down the hall, I could see the light from the kitchen and the light sound of the television. I pointed down the hall, showing Zach where I had seen the vampire. He nodded and gave me a gentle push, telling me that I should go first.

I moved all the way down the hall, until the television show came through clearly and I was just around the corner from seeing the vampire. I slowly let my eyes peer around the corner to see if she was still in the same place. She was, and now half of her glass was gone. I felt Zach slide in next to me, quiet as always. She was at the end of the table far from us, so that I could see her left side and part of her back.

Before I could decide what to do, she stood, bringing the glass and the remote with her. I tensed, and Zach did the same beside me when he noticed my change in stance. Please don't look down the hall, I thought. She made her way around the table and began moving toward the couches in the living room. Now Zach would be able to see her as well. He squeezed my arm twice, meaning we should act now.

I pulled out a sword from my belt and hurled it, knowing that we would need to weaken her fed body before we could get close to it. She was an older vampire and so would be quite strong. The knife embedded itself in her shoulder and she hissed, dropping her glass and whirling around. She immediately saw us and moved forward just as we moved toward her. I had already rearmed myself with a stake, and Zach had a matching one in his own hand.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked, reaching around to grab at the knife and gasping when it burned her skin. "I guess it doesn't matter. This was my favorite shirt."

She came at us, much quicker than I had anticipated. As I attempted to stab the stake, she used her arm to thrust me into the table. It smashed unpleasantly into my spine and I fell to the ground. I heard her groan in pain and I saw that Zach had stabbed once again in her back. With another sweep of her arm, she had sent him flying into the other wall. She backed away from us, again trying to pull the silver knife from her shoulder and the stake from her back.

I got up on my feet, standing slowly to assess the damage. Suddenly, a motion in my mind gave me the inkling that Zach was going to charge her and throw her to the ground. He began moving forward and I followed, ready to help. The vampire weakly put up her fists, obviously unsure on how to fight us off. She threw a punch at Zach, which he caught and, again in my mind, I felt him pulling her arm out to the side where she wouldn't be able to use it. I grabbed her other arm and did the same. We both grabbed her shoulders and shoved her down to the ground at the same time. She yelled as the impact shoved the stake in her back deeper.

The thought that I should twist her neck to knock her unconscious flitted through my mind, but I wondered whether I would be able to do it while securing her left side.

"Do it!" Zach yelled.

I looked at him, surprised. Had he read my mind or was he just saying that?

With my loosened grip the vampire thrust me off her and pushed Zach aside. She quickly got on her feet. Recovering, I wrapped one leg around her feet and used my other leg to kick in her knees, forcing her to the ground.

Zach yanked out the stake from her back and used his foot to push her down, leaving her sprawled on the ground. She was facing me, her eyes livid and her mouth pulled back in a snarl. Seeing that I was still on the ground and close, she reached out her arm to grab at me. I rolled away, scarcely escaping her nails.

"Who are you bastards?" She screamed, flailing in an attempt to get Zach's leg off her back.

"We kill bloodsuckers," I said.

She only kept screaming, each time getting shriller as she realized that she wasn't going to win this fight.

"Get off me you idiot," she yelled.

Zach looked at me, as if he was waiting. I moved forward, carefully avoiding her squirming arms and legs. I gripped the stake, point downwards, and plunged into her back, aiming at her heart. She gave a final bloodcurdling scream and then began spasming. A few seconds later, the tremors stopped and she was dead. Zach got off her back and sagged against the wall.

"I think I'm going to sleep for a few days after this trip," he said. "Sleep and get a massage."

I was right there with him. My back and hip were less than pleased with me. I used the remote she had dropped to turn off the television and then sat down on one of the couches in the living room.

"You doing okay?" Zach asked, walking over to join me.

"Just a few bumps and bruises," I said. "Probably not any worse than you."

"Yeah, this one was stronger than I imagined she would be," he said. "She knocked the breath out of my body. It was pretty impressive."

I laughed at him, "You almost sound regretful."

"Of course not," he said. "I'm just saying I haven't been around an older vampire in a while. It was refreshing to remember that not all kills are so easy."

We rested in silence for a few minutes.

"So how did you come to be at the school Ally," Zach asked quietly.

I started when he said my name. No one had actually asked me this question before. After all, we all had some sort of back story that included family members being killed by vampires. It was how the council located us in the first place.

"Well," I started quietly, "my mom died when I was pretty young. I honestly don't even remember her. My dad kind of took care of me I guess." I looked up at the ceiling and leaned back into the couch. "He had to work to keep us alive so he really wasn't home all that much. One day he just didn't come back. A week later I was about to call the cops, when a council member showed up at the door." I felt a wet drop course out of my eye. I quickly wiped it away. "I remember how unbelievable his story was. Vampires in the neighborhood." I laughed then. "I thought he was insane…then he showed me photos of my father. He had been left in a gutter in town, pale as a ghost since they sucked him dry. The fang marks were so obvious that as a child, I immediately believed him."

After clearing my throat, I continued, "Sometimes I wondered what I would have done if they hadn't come to me. I'd probably be dead by now, without having any purpose in this world."

"No wonder you're so strong," Zach said. "In the body and the mind. You had to survive without anyone taking care of you."

I shrugged. My story wasn't any different from the others. We all had our own reasons to fight the vampires.

"I was lucky to have both of my parents for a good part of my life," Zach said. "When I was thirteen, we got two unwelcome visitors at our door. I had been upstairs when my mother answered the door. I heard one scream and then my father's roar. I went out to the upstairs hallway to see what was going on, and saw two men ripping apart my parent's bodies and sucking on them. I was petrified, and incredibly lucky that they didn't notice me in their feeding frenzy. I went back into my room and cried and shook for hours before daring to go out again."

I had been staring at his profile while he told his story. They were all gruesome, but to see your own parents ripped apart in front of you, I couldn't even believe that he was a functioning human being. He looked over at me and gave me a sad smile.

"I always wish I could go back now and kill those bastards for killing my parents. I don't want to ever be weak again like I was then," he said. "We're both stronger now. I think we're going to do a lot of good for humankind."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. Zach checked his watch.

"Well, it's getting late. We should get this body packed up and go take a nap before we head home tomorrow."

Again, I nodded and followed him over to the dead body.


	15. Something New

**Something New**

We had just dropped off the body at the incinerator when someone told us that we were to go see the council.

As we walked into the council's room, I noticed something was off. The atmosphere was tense and all of the council members had tight expressions. Something was up. Zach and my gazes met; he had noticed it as well.

"You're back," the head councilman said. "We are glad to see you."

Zach and I both nodded our heads.

"So I heard this turned into more of a spree than a mission," the councilmember said. He paused as if waiting for us to explain. When Zach didn't speak up, I realized he wanted me to talk.

"Yes, well we discovered that the vampire you assigned us to was a blood distributor. We felt that the opportunity to kill a lot of vampires was too good to pass up," I said, addressing the entire council.

"How many vampires did you kill exactly?" he asked.

I hesitated, feeling awkward about saying the number out loud now that I realized what it was.

"Seventeen," Zach said, his voice clear. "Including the one we were actually assigned to kill."

The council broke into murmurs. They were surprised. The head council member just looked at me.

"It seems we have underestimated the capability of our newest partnership," he said. "It's amazing for you both to have killed so many and come out alive."

I felt my face flush as many of the council members now looked at us in awe and shock.

"Regardless of the favor you have done us all by killing that many vampires, there is a bit of a backlash," the council member said. "It will be noticed that there are that many vampires gone in that area. Especially since one of them was a distributor. We must be careful as to not draw too much attention to ourselves. Next time, please call the council and confirm that your plan of action is best."

I looked over at Zach. The council had seemed glad that we did such a good job, and yet simultaneously I felt chastised.

"Of course," Zach said. "I should have thought to call you this time but I had thought our course of action was appropriate. We will not make that mistake again."

The council member gave us a deep nod that could be interpreted as a dismissal. I was about to turn to leave when Zach spoke up again.

"I'm not sure if any of you could help us with this, but something strange occurred on this last mission," he said. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. "When we fighting the target together, I could feel Ally's decisions and movements."

My brows furrowed as I thought about that fight. There were those inklings in my mind that I had felt from Zach during the fight. And he had practically read my mind when I had been thinking about twisting her neck. I hadn't thought about it since the fight but it had been really strange and at the time I thought it was simply a coincidence.

The council members once again began looking at one another and mumbling. A woman on the council spoke up.

"This is good," she said. "You've begun to enter synchrocity." After shaking her head she continued, "It's incredible that you've already begun to feel it. You've only been together a few months."

"What exactly is synchrocity?" I heard myself ask.

"It's a bonding between perfect pairs," she said. "It's only happened a few times, so we only know so much about it. Fairly soon you will know much more than us. It begins with feeling one another's intentions when fighting or during other times of intense concentration or emotional turmoil." She exhaled heavily, "It makes you the perfect fighting duo, always complementing one another and working together to conquer any opponent."

"You are progressing readily Ally," the head councilmember said. "Honestly, maybe a bit too quickly at this point." He laughed. "You're going to be graduating well before anyone in your year."

It was probably true. With all of the personal training I had with Zach, my learning and ability had improved at an accelerated rate.

"Well, we are glad to know that we put the right people together," the head councilmember said. "Arabella, thank you for your service. Please go get some rest. Zachariah, we would like to speak with you for a bit."

I thanked the council and left, wondering whether their anxious expressions had anything to do with why they were talking to Zach now.

After a shower and some fresh clothes, I headed to the school's cafeteria to have some lunch. We always had snacks at the house, but many of the main meals were consumed in the school cafeteria.

As I entered, I was glad to see there were still many people there though it was 1am. I spotted Dusty and George sitting at a table with a couple of other people. There was space for me to join them so I got some food and walked over. As I got closer to the table, I realized most of the people eating were hunched over and talking to one another quietly. Some looked nervous or frightened. What had happened while we were gone?

"Hey guys," I said as I reached the table.

"Ally," Dusty said, jumping up to hug me. "You're finally back! Took you long enough."

"Seriously you guys were gone for almost a week," George said.

I shrugged and sat down, "Everything went fine. It just took a little longer than expected. So what's going on?"

"Well, you know, things are normal," Dusty said, his smile had disappeared.

"Why is everyone acting so weirdly then?" I asked, looking at them all directly to see if I could glean information from their expressions.

George sighed, "There's been some rumors going around. The council hasn't formally announced anything yet, so they could all be bogus."

I took a bite of my salad before asking, "And what are these rumors?"

They were all silent for a moment. One of the people at the table who I didn't know spoke up.

"People have been saying that a scouting mission that came back two days ago discovered something we haven't seen before," he said. "They think they've discovered a vampire coven."

I lifted an eyebrow. Vampires were gathering? From what we had learned in class, too many vampires together tended to become a bad situation since they could quickly get on each other's nerves.

"Why would there be a coven now?" I asked.

"They think that they might be targeting the school," someone else said quietly.

I felt my body go cold. If vampires ever discovered our location and sought to attack the school, it would make our situation much more difficult. While it was virtually impossible for them to get inside the school, they could wait just outside for us to leave at any time. Whether or not we continued to conduct missions, we would still need to be able to leave to get necessities like food.

I blinked a couple times and tried to shake it off.

"I don't think we need to worry until the council says something about it," I said, beginning to eat once more.

I saw the others exchange glances, and I knew that they were not going forget about this problem so easily. Neither was I.

The next day, I was in the training room and stretching before Zach even got there. I assessed his expression, looking to see if anything was abnormal. His expression was the usual, but I could see his concentration was elsewhere.

"So what'd they talk to you about?" I asked casually.

"Hm?" He said, as if he hadn't heard the whole question.

"Why'd the council keep you after our debriefing?" I asked again.

"Ah," he sighed. "I guess you'll be finding out soon anyway."

This didn't sound promising.

"A scouting group came back the other day with some strange news. They noticed that there was an abnormal number of vampires within one community. They would meet in different houses in the community, many at a time. It's pretty strange and the council has become concerned about this group of vampires because of their proximity to the school."

My eyes snapped to his, "How close are they?"

"Six hours by car, which isn't that close, but close enough for them to be a viable concern," he said, grabbing a dummy from the corner of the room and setting it in front of me.

"So what's going to happen?" I said, slowly getting to my feet.

Zach crossed his arms. "The council is going to take precautionary measures for the time being. Then we'll send out more scouts and find out what's really going on here."

Nodding, I started punching the dummy. Most of the training proceeded in silence, though Zach would speak up to correct my form at times.

Just as we had picked up our staffs toward the end of training, there was a hiss over the intercom.

"May I have your attention, please," the voice said. It sounded like the head councilman.

"As of tonight, we will be asking all students living in the exterior housing units to room in the school until further notice. We believe there is a threat to the school that may target these more vulnerable outer houses. Please return to those homes now, pack your necessities, and return to the school gym. We expect you will follow this order quickly and accurately. Refer to your teachers if you have further questions. Thank you for your patience at this time."

When there was nothing else, I looked at Zach.

"Why the outer units?" I asked. That was where I lived.

He pulled the staff over the back his head with both arms and stretched.

"Vampires aren't able to enter the school itself. However, they can enter those houses that many of the trainees are living in. The only doors they can't go through are the ones that connect to the school's tunnel system. The school is secure, but anyone in the houses is at risk. Hopefully the vampires still don't know where we're located. But the council doesn't want to wait to find out."

It all made sense. I set my staff against the wall.

"Looks like I'll be heading out early then," I said.

Zach gave me a slow nod, "I'll see you later."

I left the training room, wondering how the rest of the school was taking the news.


	16. Moving Out

Just a quick note to everyone- Thank you very much for all of the positive feedback. I know some of you had some suggestions for events to happen later on in the story, but the way I did this was I finished the entire story first and that's what has let me post so frequently. There's only a few chapters left (sad I know) but I did write this with the intention of having sequels. I may be able to incorporate some suggestions into the next story, or post some chapters after the entire story is up that go back and look at Zach's POV. Sadly, I have a lot of other things going on in my life right now, so I can't promise it will happen on a timely basis. Thank you so much for all the support though. I have really enjoyed reading all your reviews, and I'm so glad I decided to post this on FanFiction!

**Moving Out**

The boys were all already home, and I heard noises coming from everyone's room. The normal sounds of teasing and laughter were all absent, and as I passed James and Charles' room I could see that their expressions were somber.

I slipped into my own room after saying hello and began to dump things into the one bag I had. Clothes, toothbrush, makeup. I went over to the drawer by my bed and pulled it open. I didn't have many personal items, but my most precious ones were all in this drawer. A picture of my father and I, my father's watch, and all of my personal identification documents. I slipped them into the makeup bag and tossed it in with everything else. Before long, the room was empty and looked quite uninhabited.

I moved my things down to the living room and visited each boy's room to check if they needed any help. I noticed a number of glances toward the front door of the house, as if they expected vampires to come busting in at any moment. Soon we were all ready to go back to the school. The boys sloughed into the corridor that led to school and I shut off the final lights before closing the door behind us. Hopefully there would be no one but humans ever entering the house.

As the boys and I filed into the gym, there were many students already rolling out blankets on the floor to set up a sleeping space. Again talk was kept to whispers with many nervous glances at the several instructors standing by the doors. I caught Zach's gaze and nodded to him. He returned the gesture and resumed to his conversation with the others.

"Come on Ally," Charles said. We moved toward the corner of the gym and began laying down our things next to one another.

"Ally," someone called behind me. I turned back. It was Daia, with an assuring smile on her face. The only smile I had seen the entire day.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked, letting my pillow slide onto the sheets I had brought.

She gave a little shrug, "You know, fine under the circumstances. I can't imagine anything better than a sleepover with all our classmates."

I found myself smiling. Daia was amazing in that she was always strong and cheerful. I had always wished I could be more like her.

"So have you got any details about what's going on?" Daia asked, taking on a more serious tone.

I shook my head, "I don't know much more than anyone else. I'll let you know if something comes up."

"Thanks Ally," she said. "Mind if I come sleep next to you? Shelley gives me headaches and I want a good night's sleep."

Again I smiled, "Of course. Come on over."

As she walked off, I heard the boys jostling one another behind me. As I turned around, I saw them punching Dusty in the shoulder as his face slowly turned pink. He had always nurtured a thing for Daia, who had notoriously always remained single.

"You can try your luck Dusty, but I'm not sure if it'll work," I said to him, glad that the boys had broken out of their quiet states. Suddenly, George stilled.

"Ally, it looks like Zach wants you?"

I looked over to where Zach had been. He was now gesturing for me to go into the training room.

"See you guys in a bit," I said before heading over.

Normally the training room was a quiet space—now there was a quiet murmur of voices in the background.

"I probably should have told you this earlier, but you don't have to sleep in the gym," Zach said.

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused.

"Well there's space in my apartment," he said. "You might as well move in. Then you won't need to sleep on the floor."

Based on my last experience at his apartment, I wasn't exactly ready to return just yet.

"That's alright Zach, I don't want people to think I'm getting special treatment," I said. "It's probably better if I just stay with all my classmates."

He scoffed, "Don't delude yourself. You're already getting special treatment." He raked his hand through his hair, seeming to be upset with something. "It would be more important for you to get some good sleep than to establish your equality with the people who were once your classmates."

Suddenly a pit of nerves began to worm its way in my stomach.

"Why would I need good sleep if we're just bunkering down here?" I asked.

"I'm going out on a scouting party tonight," he said. "Depending on what we find, we'll be back for reinforcements." After a pause, he continued, "They want you to come out with me and a few others when that happens."

The pit became a flaring ball. I hadn't even graduated yet, and they were going to send me up against a coven of vampires?

"I know, I didn't think it was a good idea either," Zach said. "But it's what the council wants."

"This mind-reading thing is weird," I said bluntly.

"If you don't feel ready to go out, we can go to the council and talk to them about it," he said. "If you don't feel confident enough they would have to reconsider."

I stared at the dummies in the corner as I thought about it. The council felt I was ready. I was much less certain. My training had only been for a short amount of time, and though I had improved a lot I was nowhere close to as good as Zach or any of the other graduated slayers.

"I think I'll wait to hear what you guys find before deciding on it," I said finally.

Zach nodded, "So you won't move into the apartment then?"

I shook my head, "I would still rather be in the gym. It will be more comforting than being in that apartment alone."

"Alright, well I guess I'll see you when I get back," Zach said.

"Have a safe trip," I said.

He grinned, "To be honest it will be weird not to have you there after all our time together. I doubt our scouting troop will be nearly as functional."

That made me smile as well, "You'll be fine. You survived all those years without a partner."

He shrugged and then gave me a goodbye wave before exiting the room. It was a strange feeling to see him go.

In the next few days, classes commenced per normal and slowly interactions among students became less constrained. I wasn't sure what to do since my normal schedule no longer worked in Zach's absence. I tried to go back to classes with the boys, but inevitably I found my mind drifting. Some of the information Zach had already taught me, some of the information I was sure wouldn't protect me when I was face-to-face with a vampire. Eventually, I naturally drifted toward the training room when the boys went to class, and no one stopped me to tell me I couldn't.

Today I practiced hand-to-hand combat, more for the endurance and exercise it gave me than for actual fighting practice. As I punched an imaginary person in front of me, I heard the room's door creep open. I looked back to see who else was out of class. Daniel was standing at the door, with a crooked smile on his face.

"Can I help you?" I asked, not relaxing my stance.

"I was just wondering how you're getting on," Daniel said. "Looks good to me."

"Shouldn't you be somewhere right now?" I asked, beginning to punch mid-air again.

"Well, I'm currently in graduation prep class, which means I can do what I like to prepare for graduation," He said, moving more into the room.

"As the title of the class would indicate," I muttered under my breath.

"You look lonely fighting an invisible adversary Ally," Daniel said. "Want a sparring partner?"

Hmm. I had seen Daniel fight before, and he was surprisingly good. He was well-known for being able to disarm his foe in any situation. If we fought without any weapons though, it would be interesting to know how it went. I wouldn't have been good enough to fight him a few months ago, but now…

"I'm game," I said, turning now to face him. "Any rules?"

He smiled and took up a fighting pose, "Nothing above the neck? And no closed fists." I nodded in acceptance and brought up my hands in loose fists.

We both observed one another for a minute before he took a step toward me. I twisted quickly as his swing came toward my ribs. My hand whipped out to slap his hand away. I saw the surprised grin on his face as he stepped back to reevaluate. Point for me.

Again he came towards me, this time heading for the other side of my body. I grabbed his reaching arm and quickly twisted it behind his back. I used my foot to clip his knees, and he fell forward.

"Holy crap Ally," Daniel gasped. I was surprised myself—it wasn't as hard to fight Daniel as I thought it would be. I let go of him to let him get back up.

"Zach's created a monster," He said, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Should we try something else?" I asked, basking in the quick win.

He nodded carefully, no longer underestimating my abilities.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sparring using different weapons. Though Daniel had been able to knock a fake knife out of my hand once, I had won all the rest of the matches without much trouble. Daniel's expression had gotten more determined as the day went on. I doubt this was doing much for his self-esteem. After another win with a staff, I realized it had gotten very quiet outside of the training room. I leaned the staff against the wall and opened the door in order to peek outside. People were once again in whispering clusters.

I walked to the closest clump of people and immediately knew that the search party had returned. The party members themselves were noticeably absent.

"I'll see you later," I said to Daniel, who had entered the room behind me. I quickly began striding toward the hall that contained the elevator to take me down to the hallway that would lead to the apartments. Somehow I just knew that Zach was in his apartment and things were not looking up.

I quickly made my way through the corridors and elevators, finding that the second time around wasn't as bad. Before long I was at Apartment 35. I poised my hand to knock on the door, figuring it would be more polite than just barging in. The door swung inward before my hand could make contact.

Zach looked as if he hadn't slept in days. He actually looked like he was about to fall asleep right there in the doorway.

"How'd you know I was here?" He mumbled.

I shrugged, "I just knew. How'd it go?"

He sighed and went deeper into his apartment, leaving open the door for me to follow. I shut it quietly behind me. We both sat on the couch. After a minute or so, he told me the story. He told it quietly and quickly, and his pauses sometimes made me think he had fallen asleep. When I began asking questions, his eyes drifted close, and his answers became more and more jumbled. As his body started to lean and his head slumped to the side, I rolled my eyes and tried to pull at his arm to get him to get up and into bed. He murmured his dissent, and instead fell over into my lap.

"Can you just be quiet for a bit?" I heard him say.

I laughed under my breath. Poor guy. All of the people who had gone on the information raid must be exhausted. Not knowing where to put my hands, I tucked them into my sides and leaned back, letting him have his rest.

So the coven of vampires was real. They had seen groups convening in a few different houses in one neighborhood. They were always quiet, but since Zach's group had been looking for them, it was fairly easy to find them. When one of the female pairs of slayers hadn't come back from snooping around, it had set the whole group on edge. They weren't sure what had happened, but there was no sign of them. They had watched the group for days, trying to decipher whether or not they knew about the slayer school. They still were not sure, which meant another trip would be happening soon.

I looked down at Zach's face. Even in sleep, his features were tired and worried. Involuntarily, my hand drifted up to smooth out his features. Surprisingly, I felt his face relax under my fingers. His hand reached up, grabbed mine, and he turned over, his body now facing mine. I held my breath, unsure of whether he was awake or not. When he didn't stir anymore, I leaned back again, unsure of what to do. I began to think about training routines, and practiced fighting Zach, Daniel, and unknown vampires in my head.

"Ally?" I heard my name being called.

I cracked my eyes open. Zach's face hovered inches before mine.

"Yes?" I said, not really wanting to get up.

"Thanks for being my pillow, but you should probably head back to the gym," Zach said, standing up now.

I closed my eyes again, "Mmph. Why should I?"

"Because they'll miss you if you're gone too long?"

"I doubt it," I mumbled.

"Well, unless you changed your mind about sleeping here, you'll have to go back eventually."

I sighed, "Fine, I'm getting up."

I extended my arms out in a stretch, and Zach used them to pull me up out of my seat. Still not entirely awake, I fell into him instead of standing on my own. My eyes flew open. Zach had caught me and so I was wrapped in his arms.

"You okay?" He asked. His blue eyes looked softer than normal.

I felt my face heat up, "Guess I'm slow at waking up."

I stepped back and felt Zach's grip fall away. Though he seemed unfazed by our close contact, I had felt a warm unfurling in my stomach. It was strange and I didn't feel kindly toward it. I headed to the door and made to leave.

"Get your rest Ally," Zach said, staring at the wall. "We're leaving in two days to go back."


	17. Into the Coven

**Into the Coven**

For the fourth day, we watched the third house on the right. There had been a few vampires leaving in the early morning, and no one had gone in. It could be that they were living together in the same house, but as we had seen the past few days, some nights the numbers of vampires entering the place made it unlikely that they all lived there.

We were unsure of how to proceed in order to find out more information and yet keep the vampires from knowing we were here. There were some suggestions to bug the house, but that would mean putting slayers inside the house somehow. At this point, we were just trying to get an understanding of when the house was the most and least crowded. Luckily for us, a house down the street was up for sale, and so we had an empty home base to operate out of.

"It's always empty before three," Trewin said. "That would be the best time to get ears inside."

"But where would you even put it inside?" Celia asked. "We don't know what rooms they use or how long they use them for."

"We'll pay extra attention to where the lights are on tonight," Ben proposed. "We can set the bug in that room tomorrow."

There were a number of people I had never met before this trip. Our group was kept fairly small so as to not be too noticeable. Trewin, Celia, Ben, Tassi, Zach, and I were the group sent to watch the vampire coven.

I was beginning to get antsy. Waiting around so much made me feel like we were waiting for something to happen. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be around for that.

"I've been watching," Zach said. "They do seem to use the living room quite a bit. But after a certain point the lights are almost completely off except in the hallways."

"They must have just disappeared underground then," I said jokingly. Suddenly, everyone was staring at me in surprise.

"You know, that could be true," Celia said. "What if they made a meeting space underground? Lord knows they're more comfortable down there than in the open.

Just as I was about to say I was kidding, the whole group began discussing the possibility that the coven was underground. I had unwittingly found our solution.

"Well we have to check it out," Tassi said. "What would be the best way?"

Everyone was silent. We all knew the best way. No one wanted to say it aloud. It could mean a suicidal mission.

"I'll go," Zach said. "I'm the quietest."

"I'll go as well then," I said immediately. Zach gave me a warning glance.

"We can be your backup," Ben said, exchanging nods with Trewin.

"Ally can stay here," Zach began.

"I'm fine," I interrupted. If he was going, there was no reason why I shouldn't.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "You haven't even graduated yet. It's not right that you're even out here right now."

"But they sent me didn't they?" I replied. "I don't want to be worthless out here. You've hardly let me do anything."

I knew people were shifting uncomfortably around us as Zach and I stared each other down. It was true, he had taken all the tasks people had given me and done them himself. I knew he was protecting me but this was ridiculous. How would I get any experience if he was doing everything?

"Put some trust in your partner Zach," Tassi said cautiously. "The council believes she's ready, graduation or not."

Zach shot a glare at her before looking at me again.

"I'd rather you didn't go," Zach said quietly. "But I trust you Ally. If you want to go, I won't stop you."

"Good," I said. "I'm coming."

Immediately, preparations began for the next day. The bugs were assembled and people paid even closer attention to the house to know what entrances were used. We decided to go at 11 the next morning. The neighbors were all at work at that time, and so hopefully no one would notice a young man and woman walking up to the house.

Ben and Trewin were to wait in a car on the street for any signal that we were in trouble. Zach and I carried clipboards in our hands, under the pretense that we were giving out a survey. We walked straight around the side of the house to the backdoor. Whether or not people thought anything of our odd behavior, we wouldn't be here long enough for the consequences.

I had a lock pick ready for the door in case it was locked. Zach twisted the knob and the door opened inwards slightly. We looked at each other. No lock. They had no reason to fear people coming into their house.

Zach entered ahead of me, flattening himself against the wall. He motioned for me to wait as he listened for noises. After a moment he slid silently against the wall to the bend where the hallway began. I followed, closing the door behind me. It was like walking into a bees nest. We could only hope we didn't get stung.

I felt Zach's intention clear in my mind. As he moved toward what we thought the living room, I was to watch the other side of the hallway and his back. My hand drifted to where my stake was in my pocket.

_Come here._ Slowly I approached the room Zach had disappeared into. He was crouching next to a side table with his hand underneath, likely fixing a bug to its underside. I faced the doorway and watched the hall we had come from. It was quick, Zach was already standing beside me once more.

"Now what?" I whispered.

"We can try to find an opening that would lead underground, but we shouldn't hang around too long." Zach spoke softly back.

I stepped lightly into the hallway—there was a foyer with a staircase to the left. Back where we had come from was likely to be where the kitchen was. I looked at Zach to give me a direction to move in. He surveyed our options, and began moving back toward the kitchen. Zach moved into the doorway on the left, and I quickly checked the room we had entered through. Just as I saw that the door was cracked open instead of closed as we had left it, I felt a large sense of urgency rush through me.

I whirled toward Zach and saw a fist coming straight for my head. Next I knew nothingness.

I awoke with a pounding headache.

_Ally. Ally._

The grogginess in my mind had a difficult time registering what was going on.

_Ally, you need to wake up. Open your eyes slowly so you can see what's going on without them noticing you're awake._

Them? Who was them. Suddenly the memory of a fist flying toward my face jolted me awake. We had been caught.

Although I wanted to let my eyes fly open to see what was going on, I took it slowly as Zach suggested. A peek told me we were not alone—there were at least three others in the room and two forms on the ground in the corner.

What do we do? I thought, trying to push my thoughts toward Zach, unsure of how this whole thing worked.

_We don't know why they kept us alive. All we need to concentrate on is getting out of here. _

Freezing cold water hit my face, and my eyes flew open as I started gasping in outrage. Well there goes that plan.

I shook my head to get the water out of my eyes. A tall vampire stood in front of me with an empty bucket and grinned as he saw me shiver. I quickly scanned the room, now that I had complete vision. I was tied to a chair. Zach was to my left, and now he was watching the man who stood in front of me. A woman stood behind the man who dowsed me. She watched me silently, and for some reason I knew she was dangerous. A shifting shadow in the corner caught my eye. Another man, but his features were not easy to make out at his distance and in the dim light. The room was relatively large, and seemed to be normally used for storage. It had a packed dirt floor, and some shelves that were packed in under a staircase.

_Sara and Chustaine._ I felt this thought with much sorrow. I looked over to the two forms that Zach must have been looking at. I knew neither of the women personally, but they did look familiar from the mission meetings we had attended. They must have been the missing slayers. They were tied together on the floor, back-to-back. The cropped red-head was slumped over in an unnatural way, and the color of her skin led me to believe she was no longer in this world. The woman tied to her had her brown hair in a messy pony tail. Though her neck was covered in bites, I could see her chest rising and falling weakly.

"And who do I have the honor of meeting on this fine Sunday?" The tall man said, his voice cutting through the silence.

I glared at him, keeping my mouth shut.

His eyes narrowed to slits. He looked over at Zach.

"And you, do you have anything to contribute to the conversation?"

"I don't understand where we are or why we're here," Zach said, actually sounding confused.

The woman laughed harshly, and I instinctively cringed.

"So you just walk into a stranger's house on accident?" She scoffed.

Zach shrugged, "Our dog ran off and we thought he came into your house. We're sorry about intruding but I certainly don't think it warrants holding us hostage."

The woman walked up to him slowly and squatted so that she was on his level.

"Don't think for one second that we're idiots," She said calmly. "You know what we are. Now tell us who you are, and why you've intruded on our property."

"Who are those people in the corner?" I asked, making my tone sound fearful. "Are you serial killers?"

I saw a flash of anger on the woman's face.

"These people are your cohorts my dear. You're deluding yourself if you think you'll lie your way out of this."

"You're all going to be in serious trouble for this," Zach said confidently. "The law doesn't condone killers. The police will hunt you down and put you all in jail."

Well we were certainly succeeding in sounding like idiots.

The woman straightened up and turned to the tall man. They must have exchanged a look because he nodded and dropped the bucket, moving toward the girls in the corner. Suddenly I was hyperaware of the situation. What was he doing?

I felt Zach steel his mind beside me.

"Watch carefully, and you may be able to understand what exactly we are," he said.

He bent down and bit into the brunette's neck, sucking greedily.

"Stop!" I yelled. Zach looked at me, a bit astonished.

_Shut up Ally._

The man kept drinking, and the woman turned to me in a smile.

"So you know these women?"

"Not at all," I said. "But I wouldn't let you hurt any person in that manner. You're cannibals!"

Her eyes flashed at me, and she began laughing.

"I hate it when people are difficult," she said. "But it does give me much more pleasure to suck their bodies dry."

_The man in the corner is gone._ My eyes flitted around the room, and confirmed what Zach had noticed. Regardless, our situation was not good. Would Ben and Trewin be coming for us?

"Kill her," the woman said suddenly.

For a second I thought they meant me, and I steeled myself for a bite. Instead I saw the male vampire snap the living woman's neck. She was gone. I felt burning tears and rage rush to the surface. I hated these vampires. They were the scum of the earth.

The woman noticed my anger and came closer, putting a finger on my face.

"Did that hurt my sweet?" She whispered. She let her finger trail down my face. I stared into her red eyes, hoping that my hate of her would bore right down into her dead heart.

I could feel Zach's worry for me. He didn't like how close she was to me.

Just as I was about to spit in her face, there was a commotion from the stairway in the corner.

"Sorry to break up the party, but we have a bit of a problem up here," a voice said from above.

The woman drew back and glared at the man at the top of the stairs, "I'm sure you can handle it yourself?"

"Unfortunately not. The house appears to be on fire."

I rejoiced in my mind. Ben and Trewin must have started a fire. Vampires hate fire.

The woman frowned and sighed.

"Come Hubert," she said. "They're not going anywhere. Let's see what's going on."

They both left the room quickly, and somehow we were on our own. Zach was about to open his mouth to speak to me, when someone descended the stairs quickly.

"Heyo," the man said. When I got a good look, I had the strange feeling I knew this person. He moved around to my back and I tensed, unsure of what he was doing. When I felt his hands moving through the knots around my hands, I relaxed. Where had I seen him before?

"You know him?" Zach asked incredulously. I looked over at Zach, wide-eyed.

"I don't know," I mumbled.

The man moved over to Zach's bonds and I found I was able to stand. I rubbed at my wrists, trying to get the blood freely moving once more.

"We met once before," he said, quickly making his way through the knots. "It was in a coffeeshop."

It all flashed through my mind at once. Crossword guy.

"Mark," I said stupidly, still confused as to why he was here.

He dropped the last tie in Zach's ropes and came over to extend his hand to me.

"I'm Ror," he said with a smile. "And you are?"

_Don't give him your real name._ Zach shot quickly into my brain.

"I told you, Jackie," I said, shaking his hand once more.

He shook his head, a bit sad, "I know that's not your real name, but you have no reason to trust me yet, so I understand."

Zach still eyed him distrustfully, "Why are you here? Why are you helping us?"

"I would like to answer all your questions, but there's not enough time," he said, now guiding us to the part of the room with shelves. "If you want to leave, you have to go now."

He moved to the middle of the shelves areas and began rummaging around on the floor. I saw him roll back a rug, and hoist a stone slab up. There was now a gaping hole in the floor.

"Gentlemen first?" Ror suggested, pointedly looking at Zach. Zach's eyes narrowed.

_Pretty sure that's not how the saying goes, but I should make sure this isn't a trap._

I smiled as he moved into the hole, quickly disappearing into its darkness. Ror gestured for me to go next. As my feet began moving down the rungs of the ladder within the hole, Ror grabbed one of my hands. I looked up at him, startled.

"I was hurt when you didn't call," he said, clearly teasing. "I was surprised to see you here, but I'm glad I did."

I was unsure of what to say back. I didn't understand anything of what was happening. Ror's hand dipped into his pocket and then came to press something like paper into my hand.

"Be safe," he said quietly. "We'll meet again."

Then he let go and stood up, grabbing the stone slab to put it back in place. I scurried down the ladder, not wanting my hands to be crushed. After pocketing the mysterious paper at the bottom, I realized I never said thank you.

The tunnel came out behind a thick bunch of bushes. Once Zach and I found our way out of them, we realized we were at the park at the opening of the neighborhood we had just escaped. It was now mid-afternoon, and I could see smoke rising from some obscure location within the neighborhood.

"May I have the phone?" Zach asked.

I bent to my shoes and retrieved the small phone hidden there. I passed it to Zach and he quickly punched in a number and held it to his ear.

"Tassi we need to leave now," he said. "Get everyone and meet us at the park at the end of the road."

He listened to her response and then hung up, handing the phone back to me.

"So where did you meet that guy?" He asked.

"Remember when we were watching that bar? I sat in the coffeeshop across the street and watched for the van for you."

"Why didn't you mention you met someone there?"

I shrugged, "I honestly didn't think anything of it. He just came over to say hi and chat. Once we were done with everything, I left."

Zach went back to watching the street carefully. I could tell he was still on edge about Ror. We sat on a park bench in silence, waiting for one of our two cars to come get us. Soon enough, a green sedan casually pulled over, and we both stood to walk over. Ben was driving with Celia in the passenger seat. We jumped in the back and we took off, heading for home.

"You guys okay?" He asked. Celia twisted so she could get a good look at us.

"We're fine," Zach said. "Just a little surprised."

"We were going to go after you but we weren't sure what had happened," Ben said. "We couldn't hear anything on the bug whatsoever, so we weren't sure if you had found something interesting or gotten into trouble."

Zach nodded, "You guys did fine. I'll give you the full report when we're back."

As I settled into the seat for a nap, I remembered the paper Ror had given me. My fingers slipped into my pocket and pulled it out. I peeked over at Zach who was gazing out the window. I tried to unfold it without attracting his attention. Halfway through, I realized it was the crossword puzzle, all finished. And there was his number again along with "In case you lost it the first time around." Cocky man.

I slipped it back in my pocket with a smile. I didn't know who Ror was or why he was in a house full of vampires, but he had helped us. If I did see him again, as he suggested I would, then I would have a lot of questions to ask him. I let myself sink into the seat of the car. The thrum of the engine quickly put me to sleep.


	18. Homecoming

**Homecoming**

The more times I heard the story retold, the more I realized our mission had only been successful in one aspect—our planted bug. We had been inside the house, captured, and had learned nothing about the coven. We couldn't even tell if they had known who we were. Luckily they hadn't found the bug or the whole mission would have been for nothing. As a result though, slayers were on shifts to listen to the feed from the bug. Since I wasn't a full slayer yet, I wasn't allowed to enter the surveillance rooms.

Though I didn't really have a reason to, I sulked around the gym. Each day we didn't leave the school only meant more practice in the training rooms, by myself.

I was about to go on a run after a round with the punching bag when Daia came up to me, holding out two sealed pieces of paper.

"I was told to give these to you," Daia said, curiosity clear on her face.

I picked one up and spread it open. I read it to myself, unsure of the contents.

We've finally found something useful. They suspect that we knew what they were, and wanted to kill them. They don't know about the school. This is good news, but we will continue to discuss what to do about the coven, seeing as they are an obvious threat to the school. Just thought you should know since I still won't be leaving this room for a while. Hope you're not going too crazy out there—Zach.

I answered the questions in Daia's eyes, "Looks like we're safe for now."

She gave me a genuine smile and extended her hand further for me to take the other missive. As I read this message, my stomach bottomed out.

Arabella Fronter—We have decided to move your graduation test to this Friday. We acknowledge that this is a very short notice change, but we are certain that your experience in the field has more than prepared you for these tests. Please be at the testing arena at 10pm on Friday. Wear simple clothes, we will provide the rest. –The council.

After I took a minute to process this information, I grabbed a pen off the countertop nearby and scribbled a quick response to Zach.

They've moved my graduation tests to Friday. What should I do to prepare?

I handed it back to Daia, "Please take this to Zach."

She looked carefully at my face.

"Are you okay Ally?"

I gave her a nervous smile, "They moved my tests to this Friday. That's in two days."

Her mouth dropped open a bit, obviously surprised.

"Well when you pass, you may very well be the youngest slayer out there," she said.

"Zach became a slayer at seventeen as well," I said quietly.

She sighed, "You two are so well-matched, aren't you?"

I looked up at her, "I guess."

"It's pretty unfair that you're not allowed to be together," she said. "When you work together so often, and share that bond, it seems inevitable that'd you want to get closer physically."

I immediately blushed.

"It's not like that between us," I stammered.

She shrugged, "It wouldn't be your fault if it was. They threw you two together. They can't expect you to be together, but not, you know?"

With that, she twirled on her heel and went to deliver my message. I moved to the training room with a renewed energy, driven by the idea of being a full-fledged slayer in only a few days.

"Looking good," a familiar voice said behind me.

I was practicing with my stake. I didn't even need to turn to know who it was. I had sensed his presence before he had opened the gym door.

"I thought you were on surveillance duty?" I asked before attacking the dummy once more.

"Well, once I got word that my partner was about to be tested in the next few days, I stepped out," Zach said, coming closer now.

I yanked the stake out of the dummy before turning to Zach. He was smiling, which I guess was a good sign.

"Why do you think they changed the date?" I asked, voicing the questions that had run through my head many times since reading the message from the council.

Zach sat in one of the chairs pushed against the walls of the training room.

"To be honest, there's no reason not to have the test as soon as possible," he said. "You've already proven yourself in the field, something that very few slayers do before graduation. And your status as a trainee slayer puts limitations on you that no longer are necessary. The council know they will value you more as a full slayer, and so will put you through graduation."

"If they know what I'm capable of, why even bother with the tests?" I asked, twirling the stake around in my hand.

He laughed, leaning forward.

"It's just what everyone does. Every single slayer that has left here has been through those tests. And even though they will probably be a piece of cake for you Ally, you must still complete them."

I looked down at my toes, "Will they really be that easy?"

"You would be able to do it in your sleep by now," Zach said firmly.

I sighed, "So there's no reason for me to be worried? No preparations I can do before the tests."

I heard Zach move to me. I felt his warm arms stretch around me before enclosing me in a hug.

"You're going to do great," He said into my hair. "There's nothing for you to worry about."

I let my arms come around him and returned the hug for a second before pulling back slightly. I looked straight into his face, looking for any sign of doubt in me. His blue eyes gazed back into mine. They betrayed no signs of worry or deceit. When my eyes dropped to his lips to look for a smile, I noticed his stubble which must have grown in while he was working. I began feeling warm, being so close to his body, so close to his face. When I looked back at his eyes, they had become unreadable. I realized my breathing had increased in volume.

I pulled back, realizing we couldn't be in this embrace. We couldn't look at each other like this. At first Zach's arms tightened around me, bringing me closer again. He must have noticed the expression on my face because he stopped and dropped his arms. He cleared his throat and rubbed his forehead. It was silent for a minute.

"Would running through some drills make you feel better?" He asked.

"It's been awhile since we've practiced together," I said, nodding.

I picked up a staff, knowing that it would put some distance between us. After tossing him the other staff, we settled into a familiar pattern. Slowly, the pit of snakes in my gut dissolved into a whirling, triumphant warrior.

I twisted the sleeve of my shirt over and over again. It was just after 10 pm on Friday, and I was waiting in a room with one of the council members. The seats around the arena were currently being filled as people came to witness my tests.

I eyed the generic stake that had been laid out for me to take into the arena. If I passed, I would be given a set of stakes, personalized for me.

Every moment that passed increased my state of nervousness. Fully trained slayers were not allowed to tell others about what lies within the graduation arena, and trainee slayers are not allowed to attend the tests. We hadn't even heard rumors about what went on in these tests. Zach seemed to think it would be easy enough, but what if it wasn't.

A person entered the room to whisper into the councilman's ear. He nodded and turned to me, looking as though things were about to begin. He picked up the stake and handed it to me.

"This is the one weapon you will enter the arena with. There may be other weapons in the test area, which you may use as you please to complete the tasks. If you want to stop the tests at any time, you must ask for us to stop the tests three times. This will tell us that you truly want the test to end. Complete each task to the best of your ability. You will be timed, but this is only for our records. Do not let time become an issue for you, because even if you take 20 hours to complete the tasks, you would still qualify for becoming a slayer."

20 hours? What kind of tasks were we talking about here?

I nodded at the councilman, acknowledging I had heard and understood all he said.

"The tests will begin once you walk through the second set of doors in this hallway," he said. "Good luck."

I took that as my cue to move through the doors. There was a good stretch of hallway before coming to the second set of doors. I stood before them, took a deep calming breath, and walked through.

The first thing I saw was a dummy, almost identical to the one sitting in the training room.

"Miss Fronter, your test begins now," A voice over the intercom said. I saw a large digital clock in the corner begin to count up from 0:00. Well that certainly made things seem more stressful.

"Task one. Please stab this dummy as you would a vampire to ensure death."

In a normal setting I would have laughed at the simplicity of it all. Instead, I moved mechanically up to the dummy and stabbed it straight through the heart.

"Task two. Please move to the blackboard on your left. We will ask you a series of questions. Please answer accordingly in the boxes allocated."

I moved to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. This could be where I got in trouble. I hadn't been to class in a while.

"What are three signs that you have encountered a vampire?"

I quickly scribbled my answers: cold, nocturnal, drink blood

There were several more questions, and I only stumbled on the last one before remembering that Zach had mentioned the topic the week before. I breathed a sigh of relief when the questions were done, and I was directed to engage in sparring with two separate slayers. One, we used staffs. The other, we used hands. Each fight was to last 3 minutes, and I was satisfied to know I had the upper hand in both fights.

When the second slayer had stepped off the field after our spar, the voice came over the loudspeaker once more.

"Fourth and final task. Please enter the doorway at the end of the arena. You will find a maze inside with a vampire. Kill it and come back out this door."

I moved to the door and plunged into darkness. I paused for a few seconds, letting my eyes adjust. I was a little worried about how dark it was. I hadn't been in close quarters with a vampire where they had such a serious visual edge over me. I moved cautiously and listened hard, hoping to hear my victim before they found me.

It didn't take too long before I could hear the wailing.

"If you aren't going to kill me, you should at least feed me," someone croaked out.

I followed the voice, trying to figure out if its owner was moving at all. When the yells had gotten so loud I felt like yelling back, I saw a hunched figure on the ground at the end of the hallway.

She looked up at me and actually started sniffing at me.

"Now are you here to kill me or feed me?" she asked. I could see the hunger in her eyes. She climbed to her feet. I noticed that there were chains around her feet. Were they really making it that easy?

My question was answered when the links around her ankles suddenly popped open. She quickly realized what had happened, and began running toward me. I sidestepped her lunge and pushed her into the ground. As her arms wrapped around to begin clawing at me, I flipped her on her back and jammed my stake down into her chest. Her whole body went lax.

I pursed my lips. That was certainly one of the easiest kills I had throughout my career. She had been weak physically, and driven only by hunger. It didn't really seem fair.

I double-checked that she was dead before standing and making my way to the opening of the maze once more. I shielded my eyes as I stepped out, the bright lights searing into my eyes. At first I thought I had done something wrong since it was dead silent. Then people began cheering.

"Congratulations Miss Fronter. You have successfully completed your graduation tests. Please approach the front booth."

I took the time it took to walk to the announcer's booth to survey the crowds. Zach was in the front row, grinning as wide as could be. He winked at me as he clapped with everyone else. I smiled back at him before turning my attention to the head councilman who now stood before me.

"Arabella, congratulations on your graduation," he said. He presented a beautiful wooden box to me. "This is our gift to you and your promising career."

I took the box and opened it. Four gleaming stakes stared up at me. I grasped one and held it up. The first thing I noticed was the carving of a sun with a crescent moon inside it. It was the exact same insignia on Zach's stakes. I looked lower and found the carving of a deer on a hill, looking up at the entwined sun and moon.

Just as I was about ask the councilman what it all meant, he made a gesture toward the people surrounding the room. People began to swarm the arena, coming to congratulate me and welcome me to the group. I accepted each person's congratulations until I was numbly saying thank you over and over again, a large smile plastered to the point that it was hurting my cheeks.

"Let me see those babies," Zach said next to me. I immediately handed over my stakes. His fingers traced the sun and moon first. I watched as he examined the image of the deer. He nodded, seeming to think the image was appropriate and handed back the box. He grinned again and gave me half of a hug, pressing his lips to my forehead. A friendly gesture.

"You did amazingly," he said. "You completed the whole test in 15 minutes. That's the best score yet I'm pretty sure."

My brow creased, "What did you do it in?"

He shrugged, "16 minutes or something like that. Well it's over now. You're a fully-trained slayer Ally."

I finally felt a real grin creep over my face. I had done it. I had graduated, and I had a great partner. I let Zach guide me from the arena, and half ignored his chatter about a party in my honor as a thick layer of self-satisfaction settled over my body. I clutched the box of stakes closer. Things were going to be better from now on. I just knew it.

* * *

_As I mentioned before, I wrote this with the intention of having another book to follow it. I have a plotline in mind for the second book, but if you have suggestions you're dying to put out there, put them in the reviews and I'll keep them in mind as I write the second one. Thanks again for all the support, and I hope you enjoyed the final chapter of this book!_


End file.
